To follow up my last email in this thread, the update of the click-use license which I mentioned OPSI were considering, has in fact already been publicly announced here:
<http://perspectives.opsi.gov.uk/2009/06/opsis-new-licensing-model-taking-the-licensing-of-government-content-to-the-next-level.html> They're looking for comments on the proposed license both straight up on the blog or by email. Some key points from their summary: <quote> * Re-users will not need to register and apply for a licence like they do now with the Click-Use Licence; * The new licence terms are compatible with other standard licences such a Creative Commons and GNU GPL; * The range of information covered by the PSI Click-Use Licence is also covered by the new licence. The licence will also cover information that was formerly covered by Crown copyright waiver conditions, such as legislation and government press notices; * Initially, the licence will only cover information produced by central government departments – information that is Crown copyright. However, we expect that in time it will also cover information produced by a wider range of public sector organisations, such as local government and the health service; </quote> Despite their desire for compatibility I note that section 9 of the new license still includes provisions such as: <quote> * Not re-use the information in a deliberately misleading way. * Not re-use the information for promotional or advertising purposes; not to imply endorsement by a government department or other public sector organisation. *Not mimic the style and appearance of the original information, for example by replicating the look and feel of a published document or a departmental website. </quote> I'd also note that though clearly intended to cover "data" it mainly talks about "content" and makes no reference to the rights which may exist in data. It may be worth pointing them to open data license our Open Data Commons project have been working on: <http://www.opendatacommons.org/licenses/> Regards, Rufus _______________________________________________ okfn-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.okfn.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
