[od-discuss] New IMF license for data re-use

Wed Mar 4 02:08:51 UTC 2015

Does anyone on the list have a direct contact with someone at the IMF?  I
would like to see if there is someone at the IMF that might join us to
discuss this.

Herb

On Thu, Jan 22, 2015 at 10:03 AM, Anders Pedersen <anderspeders at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Andrew, all,
>
> Just wanted to add a big +1 to the suggestion of a blog post with a
> response re. the limitations and issues with the IMF-license. I am not a
> license expert, but would be glad to contribute if useful.
>
> Best,
> Anders
>
>
>
> On Jan 21, 2015, at 10:38 AM, Andrew Stott <andrew.stott at dirdigeng.com>
> wrote:
>
> Christine Lagarde announced on 18 November that all IMF online data would
> “free of charge to everyone” [1].  A number of us asked at the time whether
> it would be “open” [2].
>
>
>
> The IMF terms and conditions [3] are a bit confusing. For instance it’s
> not clear whether the “personal, non-commercial usage” section applies to
> the “special terms and conditions pertaining to the use of data” section –
> Diane implies that reads it as excluding commercial usage, but the “special
> terms” does say “Notwithstanding the general prohibition on the commercial
> use of IMF content, Users may … sell Data obtained from IMF sites, subject
> to …” In addition Lagarde said “to everyone”, which must mean commercial as
> well as non-commercial users.
>
>
>
> My read is that the policy intention is probably free as in “libre” as
> well as “gratuit” but that they have fallen into the trap of trying to
> write their own licence.
>
>
>
> The point about telling customers they could get the data free from the
> original source is one that has occurred in conversations I have had with a
> number of governments. It’s partially fixable by the right form of
> attribution statement.
>
> I don’t think that there is much point in going through the compliance
> process unless they ask. Instead I would have thought that we (OKFN, with
> OD Advisory Council leading) should write a public letter to Lagarde with
> an accompanying blog post and media promotion. To me this would be along
> the lines of:
>
>
>
> * applaud your move to make your data free. Immensely valuable to have
> your high-quality global data available for everyone to use without
> restriction.
>
> * to maximise the global value of this treasure, it is important that it
> is truly “Open Data” and not just free of charge. Point to open definition.
>
> * unfortunately IMF not quite there yet.
>
> * a number of issues in the text
>
> * however the best course would be for the IMF not to try and maintain its
> own licence but to use an existing, globally recognised and expertly
> maintained licence.
>
> * we’d urge IMF to adopt Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 – a number of
> specific provisions in the IMF’s Special Terms can be met by the provisions
> within CC-BY, and we would be delighted to help the IMF’s team do so.
>
> * finally while it’s great that you have made your data free available; we
> would of course hope that more of your publicly available content including
> reports will be made available on ‘open’ terms as well.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> Andrew
>
>
>
> [1] https://twitter.com/Lagarde/status/534715250927759361
>
> [2] https://twitter.com/DirDigEng/status/535027925314437120
>
> [3] http://www.imf.org/external/terms.htm
>
>
>
> *From:* od-discuss [mailto:od-discuss-bounces at lists.okfn.org
> <od-discuss-bounces at lists.okfn.org>] *On Behalf Of *Herb Lainchbury
> *Sent:* 21 January 2015 06:47
> *To:* Rufus Pollock
> *Cc:* od-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> *Subject:* Re: [od-discuss] New IMF license for data re-use
>
>
>
> I don't know if we have a process for this or if we're tracking any
> licenses in this way, but it's a good idea.
>
>
>
> We do have our license approval process
> <http://opendefinition.org/licenses/process/>, but I don't think that's
> what you're referring to.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.
>
>
>
> Based on these terms alone, there doesn't appear to be any intention on
> the part of the IMF to have the data they are publishing be considered open.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 9:57 PM, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org>
> wrote:
>
> +1 to Diane's comments here - it really seems the IMF are undermining the
> excellent "spirit" with the "letter" of their license. I think this
> definitely could be problematic in terms of OD compliance so worth a proper
> evaluation.
>
>
>
> @Herb / Mike: is proper process here to open an issue (
> https://github.com/okfn/opendefinition/issues) in order to track this?
>
>
>
> Rufus
>
>
>
> On 20 January 2015 at 17:17, Diane Peters <diane at creativecommons.org>
> wrote:
>
> Unfortunate they haven't adopted a policy similar to that used by World
> Bank for data, which is one of the best I've seen from an IGO so far,
> though they do have this provision:  "The World Bank will prosecute, to
> the fullest extent of the law, any use of World Bank Materials in a manner
> that falsifies, misrepresents, disparages or fraudulently uses the
> Materials."
>
>
>
> Here, the noncommercial limitation, "accuracy" requirement, and the vague
> requirement to use reasonable efforts to promote compliance by third
> parties are the more problematic clauses IMO.
>
>
>
> For reference:
>
> WB terms of use summary for data:
> http://data.worldbank.org/summary-terms-of-use
>
> In full:
> http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/0,,contentMDK:22547097~pagePK:50016803~piPK:50016805~theSitePK:13,00.html
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 2:50 PM, Anders Pedersen <anderspeders at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
>
>
> In december IMF announced that they would release their data openly.
>
>
>
> They have now release a Special Terms section on use of their data. I
> would be interested to hear the views here of the list?
>
>
>
> Full section here (relevant section pasted below):
>
> http://www.imf.org/external/terms.htm
>
>
>
> On a side note, NRGI has argued that the fiscal models at IMF
> <http://www.resourcegovernance.org/news/blog/modeling-masses-why-imf-should-open-fari-model-public-use>
> should be opened as well, though until we've had no luck with that.
>
>
>
> Below the Special Terms on data:
> SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS PERTAINING TO THE USE OF DATA
>
> Use of published statistical data which is made available through the IMF
> Sites shall be subject to the following special terms. For the purposes of
> these special terms, the term “Data” refers to any published statistical
> data produced by the IMF, that is not owned by a third-party. In
> particular, “Data” refers to the following:
>
> ·      IMF E-library Data, including but not limited to, International
> Financial Statistics (IFS), Balance of Payments (BOP), Direction of Trade
> (DOT) and Government Finance Statistics (GFS) (
> http://elibrary-data.imf.org/DataExplorer.aspx);
>
>
>
> ·      World Economic Outlook database (
> http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/index.aspx);
>
>
>
> ·      Primary Commodity Prices (
> http://www.imf.org/external/np/res/commod/index.aspx);
>
>
>
> ·      IMF Financial Data (http://www.imf.org/external/data.htm#financial
> );
>
>
>
> ·      Exchange Rate Data (http://www.imf.org/external/data.htm#exchange);
> and
>
>
>
> ·      And any other statistical data available on www.imf.org that
> explicitly identify the International Monetary Fund as the source.
>
> The policy of free access and free reuse does not imply a right to obtain
> confidential or any unpublished underlying data over which the IMF reserves
> all rights. Notwithstanding the general prohibition on the commercial use
> of IMF content, Users may download, extract, copy, create derivative works,
> publish, distribute and sell Data obtained from IMF Sites, subject to the
> following conditions:
>
> ·      When Data is distributed or reproduced, it must appear accurately
> and attributed to the IMF as the source, e.g. “Source: International
> Monetary Fund.”. This source attribution requirement is attached to any use
> of IMF Data, whether obtained directly from the IMF or from a User. Users
> who make IMF Data available to other users through any type of distribution
> or download environment agree to take reasonable efforts to communicate and
> promote compliance by their End Users with these terms.
>
>
>
> ·      The Data is provided to Users “as is” and without warranty of any
> kind, either express or implied, including, without limitation, warranties
> of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement.
>
>
>
> ·      If IMF Data is sold by Users as a standalone product; sellers must
> inform purchasers that the Data is available free of charge from the IMF.
>
>
>
> ·      Users shall not infringe upon the integrity of the Data and in
> particular shall refrain from any act of alteration of the Data that
> intentionally affects its nature or accuracy. If the Data is materially
> transformed by the User, this must be stated explicitly along with the
> required source citation.
>
> All other terms set forth in the general terms and conditions shall
> continue to apply to use of IMF Data.
>
>
>
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>
>
>
> --
>
> Diane M. Peters
>
> General Counsel, Creative Commons
>
> Portland, Oregon
>
> http://creativecommons.org/staff#dianepeters
>
>
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>
>
> --
>
> Rufus Pollock
>
> Founder and President | skype: rufuspollock | @rufuspollock
> <https://twitter.com/rufuspollock>
>
> Open Knowledge <http://okfn.org/> - s*ee how data can change the world*
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> --
>
>
>
> Herb Lainchbury, Dynamic Solutions
>
> 250.704.6154
>
> http://www.dynamic-solutions.com
>
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-- 

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