[okfn-za] [HacksHackers Jo'burg] Please Sue Me

Tue Apr 30 13:29:55 UTC 2013

Adi

I support the general approach and will seek legal advice (e.g. perhaps
Constitutional rights to information, PAJA applications as this info is
housed by / generated by govt institutions).

I highly double they will sue: they would look very very bad.

P

On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 3:09 PM, Adi Eyal <adi at burgercom.co.za> wrote:

> Some of you may have read an article that I posted recently on the
> OKFN mailing list and on the Daily Maverick with regards to the
> openness of government data in South Africa.
>
> In that article, I described an exercise that I undertook to gain
> commercial access to that data. I have had very few responses, all of
> which expressly forbid commercial use.
>
> As per the Copyright Act, I am not certain that most of this data
> qualifies for copyright protection as it usually contains a database
> of facts where no innovative process was used to produce said data. On
> the moral front, it seems absurd that data produced using public funds
> should be restricted in such a way. In an ideal world an open data
> licence would be attached to all government data allowing for re-use
> without permission or restriction. Please see an excerpt from a
> comment that I received from the legal advisor to parliament:
>
> "Should you wish to request permission or a licence to use information
> on our webpage for commercial gain, I suggest you indicate the item
> you want to use and the specific purpose for its use to allow us to
> make an informed decision. "
>
> I it is unacceptable to be required to request permission to re-use a
> list of MPs listed on www.parliament.gov.za
>
> I would like to propose a provocative response that will hopefully
> spark a conversation (and despite the codename, not get me sued).
> Volunteers and comments and criticisms welcome.
>
> The idea is as follows:
>
> 1. Build a website registered at www.pleasesueme.co.za
> 2. Scrape a bunch of data from government website, stuff that seems to
> not be copyrightable
> 3. Upload it to the website and offer it up for sale for a nominal
> fee. It needs to be sold so as to assert a right for general re-use.
> Sold data will be re-released under an open licence.
>
> The money (i expect very little data to be actually sold) will be used
> to fund a war-chest (however small) for a legal defense if it comes to
> that. My gut feeling is that we won't get any response at all but by
> being provocative, we might get people thinking about why it might be
> important to push open data licences within government. We might get a
> take-down notice which would be evaluated based on merit. I can't
> imagine (though I am not a lawyer) that any public agency has the
> time, money or wherewithal to take this to court.
>
> Any responses, including flames about how I'm being naive or that
> antagonism is not the correct approach are welcome.
>
> Adi
>
> --
> Adi Eyal
> Data Specialist
> phone: +27 78 014 2469
> skype: adieyalcas
> linkedin: http://za.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Adi/Eyal
>
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