Europe needs better map-based information to support its policies, especially on the environment. A new database designed to achieve this - known as INSPIRE - which could be in place by early 2009, was agreed late Tuesday evening in conciliation....
After two readings by Parliament and Council under the co-decision procedure, the chief points of disagreement remaining between MEPs and EU governments were intellectual property rights, derogations to the sharing of spatial data and the financial viability of publicly owned bodies. All these points were settled at a conciliation meeting on 21 November....
Member States will, for example, be able to restrict public access to network consultation services displaying panoramic views where there is a risk to international relations, public security or national defence. They will also be allowed to limit access to e-commerce services on a range of grounds (confidentiality of proceedings of public authorities; international relations, public security or national defence; confidentiality of commercial information; intellectual property rights; confidentiality of personal data; protection of any person who supplied the information requested on a voluntary basis; protection of the environment). The agreed text also states that INSPIRE does not affect the existence or ownership of public authorities' intellectual property rights....
At Parliament's insistence, the Member States will have to make available free of charge the services for discovering and, subject to certain specific conditions, viewing spatial data sets.
However, because some Member States were concerned about the financial sustainability of their weather forecasting services, a derogation to the principle of free public access will allow the public authorities to levy charges "where such charges are securing the maintenance of spatial data sets and corresponding data services, especially in cases involving large volumes of frequently updated data".
More generally, the question of ensuring the financial viability of public services for supplying spatial data was another key point of the agreement. Under the compromise, Member States may allow public authorities which supply spatial data sets "to license them to, and/or require payment from, the public authorities or institutions and bodies of the Community" which use them. However, any such charges and licences "must be fully compatible with the general aim of facilitating the sharing of spatial data" and must "be kept to the minimum required to ensure the necessary quality and supply of spatial data sets and services together with a reasonable return on investment". Moreover, spatial data provided under Community legislation relating to the environment may not be subject to charging.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/25/2006 11:13:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
