[od-discuss] Question about open data licenses

Mon Apr 7 19:20:43 UTC 2014

Hi Carsten,

Not a silly question at all.  Thank for asking and for providing real
examples.

We often see "any lawful use" style clauses and is a point of confusion so
it's worth discussing.

These "any lawful use" style clauses are typically used in the context of
giving a permission - e.g. "you are free to use the data for any lawful
purpose"

While not strictly required for conformance, we recommend that publishers
not include "any lawful use" clauses.

In our letter to the City of Calgary in September of 2013 we stated:  ""We
think that the wording "any lawful use" serves no real purpose and causes
confusion for users.  We feel that open data licenses are a poor vehicle
for law enforcement.  Laws themselves define what is lawful and unlawful
and come with appropriate enforcement mechanisms.  We recommend that this
be removed.""

I think the clause you state, "It must be ensured that the data are used in
accordance with Danish law", assuming the translation is accurate, is
different though.  If it pertains only to the original data consumer it's
close to "any lawful use" but rather than a lack of permission it's stated
as a restriction.  The fact that it's vague in it's treatment of who does
the ensuring whether or not they are responsible for downstream users, is
more problematic in my view so I think the concern is valid.

To your second point, "Should the supplier of the app be prosecuted for not
ensuring a legal use of the data?".  With this license I would say it's
hard to tell.

They likely intend the license to be clear so if it's possible for you to
provide them with feedback about this issue they could very well agree and
make a change.  I think the thing to keep in mind is that people are still
figuring this stuff out so it's great to ask questions and provide
constructive feedback to publishers.  In my experience they are usually
appreciative of the feedback.

In this case it looks like they have done a great job in trying to make
their license brief and clear.  Are you able to contact them and offer a
suggestion?

Herb

On Sun, Apr 6, 2014 at 12:22 PM, Carsten Agger <agger at modspil.dk> wrote:

> Silly question, maybe:
>
> Is it acceptable for an open data license to limit the use of whatever
> it covers to lawful purposes?
>
> The question is about this license, by the Danish government body
> Digitaliseringsstyrelsen (Agency for Digitalization):
>
> http://digitaliser.dk/resource/2432531
>
> The clause that makes me wonder is this:
>
>
> "Det skal sikres, at brug af data er i overensstemmelse med dansk ret."
>
> ... meaning ...
>
>
> "It must be ensured that the data are used in acccordance with Danish law."
>
> Apart from this one clause, the license is a very decent BSD- or
> MIT-style license that is fully compliant with the Open Definition.
>
> But I wonder if this one clause is a poison pill that they should be
> advised to take out?
>
> Now suppose ... someone took property value data to make an app which
> figures out which families may be rich and uses it to burgle them. When
> they are caught, should they also be prosecuted for breaking the open
> data license? They might, but it seems absurd.
>
> A second scenario: Someone makes another and perfectly legitimate
> traffic monitoring application, and someone buys that app and uses it to
> figure out when trucks carrying valuable goods pass. The crooks did not
> make the app, which is legit. Should the supplier of the app be
> prosecuted for not ensuring a legal use of the data? But how could they?
>
> Can an open data license contain such a clause?
>
> I'm thinking it might put limits on redistribution (since you can't
> ensure how the recipient uses the data) and make the license technically
> revokable if the law changes.
>
> Both of them would seem to undermine it. Or am I reading it too
> literally? IANAL.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 

Herb Lainchbury, Dynamic Solutions
250.704.6154
http://www.dynamic-solutions.com
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