[okfn-za] [HacksHackers Cape Town] Please Sue Me

Wed May 1 14:56:29 UTC 2013

Hi Adi,

Thanks for your work on this and the Daily Maverick column - it is very
interesting to hear about the responses that you've been getting. This idea
is very cool - but I wonder if a potentially confrontational approach is
the best way to start.

Maybe the goal of all this should be that all government data is placed in
the public domain, as is the case in the U.S. (see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Domain#Government_works).

Cheers,
Geoff.

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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