Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
 
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fyi
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jonathan Gray <[hidden email]> Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 2:50 PM Subject: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set To: [hidden email], [hidden email] Might be of interest. Shame it is all under a non-commercial license! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Daniel Newman <[hidden email]> Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 8:23 PM Subject: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set To: sunlightlabs <[hidden email]> Free, Public MapLight Money and Politics Data Set Launches Today, Includes All Federal Campaign Contributions Hosted on Google Fusion Tables for Easy Searching and Bulk Download Accessible by API Oct. 2, 2012—MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that reveals money's influence on politics, announces the launch of the MapLight Money and Politics Data Set, an easy-to-access, downloadable database of MapLight-enhanced Federal Elections Commission (FEC) campaign finance data for free public use. The data set includes all federal contributions, independent expenditures (including super PACs), and candidate and committee totals and will update regularly with the most current data from the FEC. "MapLight is excited to offer this critical civic data in a way that is more timely and accessible than ever before, said Daniel G. Newman, MapLights co-founder and president. "It will be wonderful to see what the web community builds with this continually-updated free public data, using the latest tools from Google Fusion Tables." Citizens, journalists, and programmers can now view, search, sort, filter, and visualize (with charts, line graphs, bar graphs, scatter plots, and timelines) federal campaign contributions using Google Fusion Tables. Data can also be merged with outside databases, and visualizations can be easily embedded into blogs, media sites, and more. The MapLight Money and Politics Data Set can also be downloaded or accessed via API by citizens and journalists for free non-commercial use in websites, widgets, and apps. The data set includes continually updated information on all current candidates for the House, Senate, and U.S. Presidentincluding how much each has raised and spentmaking it easy for election-related websites to integrate this newsworthy information. Read more: http://maplight.org/maplight-launches-fec-money-and-politics-data-set ----- Daniel Newman President & Co-Founder MapLight -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sunlightlabs" group. To post to this group, send email to [hidden email]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [hidden email]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sunlightlabs?hl=en. -- Jonathan Gray Head of Community The Open Knowledge Foundation http://www.okfn.org http://twitter.com/jwyg _______________________________________________ openspending mailing list [hidden email] http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/openspending |
Re: Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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Cool resource - thanks for sharing this, Michael!
The Open Knowledge Foundation's Jonathan Gray's comment misportrays the license for this resource. Here is what it actually says: "free of charge for all uses that are freely available to the public. For example, you may use the MapLight Data on free public websites (including ad-supported websites); in news reporting available to the public; in academic research; in blog posts; and in mobile apps offered free of charge". http://maplight.org/data/get/federal-money-and-politics-dataset/license This is not a CC license, but it more closely resembles Sharealike than Noncommercial. best, Heather Morrison On 2012-10-02, at 11:57 AM, Michael Lenczner wrote: > fyi > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Jonathan Gray <[hidden email]> > Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 2:50 PM > Subject: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US > Money and Politics Data Set > To: [hidden email], [hidden email] > > > Might be of interest. Shame it is all under a non-commercial license! > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Daniel Newman <[hidden email]> > Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 8:23 PM > Subject: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set > To: sunlightlabs <[hidden email]> > > > Free, Public MapLight Money and Politics Data Set Launches Today, > Includes All Federal Campaign Contributions > > Hosted on Google Fusion Tables for Easy Searching and Bulk Download > Accessible by API > > Oct. 2, 2012—MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that > reveals money's influence on politics, announces the launch of the > MapLight Money and Politics Data Set, an easy-to-access, downloadable > database of MapLight-enhanced Federal Elections Commission (FEC) > campaign finance data for free public use. The data set includes all > federal contributions, independent expenditures (including super > PACs), and candidate and committee totals and will update regularly > with the most current data from the FEC. > > "MapLight is excited to offer this critical civic data in a way that > is more timely and accessible than ever before, said Daniel G. Newman, > MapLights co-founder and president. "It will be wonderful to see what > the web community builds with this continually-updated free public > data, using the latest tools from Google Fusion Tables." > > Citizens, journalists, and programmers can now view, search, sort, > filter, and visualize (with charts, line graphs, bar graphs, scatter > plots, and timelines) federal campaign contributions using Google > Fusion Tables. Data can also be merged with outside databases, and > visualizations can be easily embedded into blogs, media sites, and > more. > > The MapLight Money and Politics Data Set can also be downloaded or > accessed via API by citizens and journalists for free non-commercial > use in websites, widgets, and apps. The data set includes continually > updated information on all current candidates for the House, Senate, > and U.S. Presidentincluding how much each has raised and spentmaking > it easy for election-related websites to integrate this newsworthy > information. > > Read more: http://maplight.org/maplight-launches-fec-money-and-politics-data-set > > ----- > Daniel Newman > President & Co-Founder > MapLight > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "sunlightlabs" group. > To post to this group, send email to [hidden email]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [hidden email]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/sunlightlabs?hl=en. > > > > > -- > Jonathan Gray > > Head of Community > The Open Knowledge Foundation > http://www.okfn.org > > http://twitter.com/jwyg > > _______________________________________________ > openspending mailing list > [hidden email] > http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/openspending > _______________________________________________ > CivicAccess-discuss mailing list > [hidden email] > http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss |
Re: Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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My mistake, Heather! I was under this impression from the press release, which says: "The MapLight Money and Politics Data Set can also be downloaded or accessed via API by citizens and journalists for free *non-commercial* use in websites, widgets, and apps." (my emphasis).
I will forward the data license to the Open Definition Advisory Council [1], to see if they think this is compliant with the Open Definition [2]: J. [1] http://opendefinition.org/advisory-council/ [2] http://opendefinition.org/
On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 9:13 PM, Heather Morrison <[hidden email]> wrote: Cool resource - thanks for sharing this, Michael! Jonathan Gray Head of Community The Open Knowledge Foundation http://www.okfn.org http://twitter.com/jwyg |
Re: [open-gov] Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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Opening up data for commercial use takes more than a license. In many cases, it will be necessary to reconsider the funding model for producing the data in the first place. The experience with Statistics Canada is a case in point; Stats Can went to open data, then shortly thereafter to cutbacks which meant losses in staff and data collection.
Governments in recent decades have expected departments to move to cost-recovery. To move to open, new sources of funding are needed. This is not easy to do in these times of fiscal restraint. Stats Can references: See the Statistics Canada Open Data License Agreement, March 29, 2012: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/reference/licence-faq-eng.html Budget Cuts leave StatsCan girding for fewer surveys, less staff, Globe & Mail article, April 23, 2012: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/budget-cuts-leave-statscan-girding-for-fewer-surveys-less-staff/article4103776/ best, Heather Morrison On 2012-10-02, at 2:52 PM, Karl Fogel wrote: > Thomas Lord <[hidden email]> writes: >> For what it might be worth I'd also like to weigh in to express some >> hope that MapLight might reconsider and drop its restrictions on some >> forms of commercial use of some of the data they offer. [...] > > What Tom said. This may be "open" in some sense, but it's not "open > source" in the sense of giving people true freedom to do the unexpected. > Enforcing non-commerciality is indeed "contrary to the spirit of the > open government movement", as he put it. > > People often use non-commerciality restrictions to accomplish what they > could better accomplish with a simple Share-Alike provision -- and the > latter would be truly open too. (Of course, there's more going on in > this case than just commercial-use issues.) > > I hope MapLight sees the light. > > [Speaking only for myself, not Civic Commons; I just used that address > because I believe it's the one I'm able to post here with.] > > -Karl > >> Another licensing term I think is horribly, horribly >> problematic says: >> >> "User will, upon MapLight's request, provide >> MapLight with monthly traffic statistics (visitors >> and pageviews) for web pages that use MapLight >> Data. MapLight does not distribute user-specific >> traffic statistics except in cases where we have >> obtained the user's permission. MapLight reserves >> the right to publish usage statistics aggregated >> across multiple users. News media exemption: The >> requirements in this section 5 do not apply if you >> are using the MapLight Data only as part of news >> reporting, research reports, or commentary published >> on your site." >> >> And then there's this one: >> >> "These terms may be modified at any time. >> MapLight will send notification of changes >> to the MapLight Data Users email list." >> >> With those terms I personally can't see any good way >> to build anything at all on MapLight data. There >> are too many restrictions and too much uncertainty. >> This effectively silos the data in a way that I >> think runs contrary to the spirit of the >> open government movement. >> >> -t >> >> >> >> On Tue, 2012-10-02 at 21:18 +0200, Jonathan Gray wrote: >>> My mistake, Heather! >>> >>> >>> I was under this impression from the press release, which says: "The >>> MapLight Money and Politics Data Set can also be downloaded or >>> accessed via API by citizens and journalists for free *non-commercial* >>> use in websites, widgets, and apps." (my emphasis). >>> >>> >>> I will forward the data license to the Open Definition Advisory >>> Council [1], to see if they think this is compliant with the Open >>> Definition [2]: >>> >>> >>> http://maplight.org/data/get/federal-money-and-politics-dataset/license >>> >>> J. >>> >>> [1] http://opendefinition.org/advisory-council/ >>> [2] http://opendefinition.org/ >>> >>> On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 9:13 PM, Heather Morrison <[hidden email]> >>> wrote: >>> Cool resource - thanks for sharing this, Michael! >>> >>> The Open Knowledge Foundation's Jonathan Gray's comment >>> misportrays the license for this resource. >>> >>> Here is what it actually says: "free of charge for all uses >>> that are freely available to the public. For example, you may >>> use the MapLight Data on free public websites (including >>> ad-supported websites); in news reporting available to the >>> public; in academic research; in blog posts; and in mobile >>> apps offered free of charge". >>> http://maplight.org/data/get/federal-money-and-politics-dataset/license >>> >>> This is not a CC license, but it more closely resembles >>> Sharealike than Noncommercial. >>> >>> best, >>> >>> Heather Morrison >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On 2012-10-02, at 11:57 AM, Michael Lenczner wrote: >>> >>>> fyi >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >>>> From: Jonathan Gray <[hidden email]> >>>> Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 2:50 PM >>>> Subject: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight >>> Launches New US >>>> Money and Politics Data Set >>>> To: [hidden email], >>> [hidden email] >>>> >>>> >>>> Might be of interest. Shame it is all under a non-commercial >>> license! >>>> >>>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >>>> From: Daniel Newman <[hidden email]> >>>> Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 8:23 PM >>>> Subject: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and >>> Politics Data Set >>>> To: sunlightlabs <[hidden email]> >>>> >>>> >>>> Free, Public MapLight Money and Politics Data Set Launches >>> Today, >>>> Includes All Federal Campaign Contributions >>>> >>>> Hosted on Google Fusion Tables for Easy Searching and Bulk >>> Download >>>> Accessible by API >>>> >>>> Oct. 2, 2012—MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization >>> that >>>> reveals money's influence on politics, announces the launch >>> of the >>>> MapLight Money and Politics Data Set, an easy-to-access, >>> downloadable >>>> database of MapLight-enhanced Federal Elections Commission >>> (FEC) >>>> campaign finance data for free public use. The data set >>> includes all >>>> federal contributions, independent expenditures (including >>> super >>>> PACs), and candidate and committee totals and will update >>> regularly >>>> with the most current data from the FEC. >>>> >>>> "MapLight is excited to offer this critical civic data in a >>> way that >>>> is more timely and accessible than ever before, said Daniel >>> G. Newman, >>>> MapLights co-founder and president. "It will be wonderful to >>> see what >>>> the web community builds with this continually-updated free >>> public >>>> data, using the latest tools from Google Fusion Tables." >>>> >>>> Citizens, journalists, and programmers can now view, search, >>> sort, >>>> filter, and visualize (with charts, line graphs, bar graphs, >>> scatter >>>> plots, and timelines) federal campaign contributions using >>>> Fusion Tables. Data can also be merged with outside >>> databases, and >>>> visualizations can be easily embedded into blogs, media >>> sites, and >>>> more. >>>> >>>> The MapLight Money and Politics Data Set can also be >>> downloaded or >>>> accessed via API by citizens and journalists for free >>> non-commercial >>>> use in websites, widgets, and apps. The data set includes >>> continually >>>> updated information on all current candidates for the House, >>> Senate, >>>> and U.S. Presidentincluding how much each has raised and >>> spentmaking >>>> it easy for election-related websites to integrate this >>> newsworthy >>>> information. >>>> >>>> Read more: >>> http://maplight.org/maplight-launches-fec-money-and-politics-data-set >>>> >>>> ----- >>>> Daniel Newman >>>> President & Co-Founder >>>> MapLight >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the >>>> Groups "sunlightlabs" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to >>> [hidden email]. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> [hidden email]. >>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/sunlightlabs?hl=en. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Jonathan Gray >>>> >>>> Head of Community >>>> The Open Knowledge Foundation >>>> http://www.okfn.org >>>> >>>> http://twitter.com/jwyg >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> openspending mailing list >>>> [hidden email] >>>> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/openspending >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list >>>> [hidden email] >>>> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Jonathan Gray >>> >>> Head of Community >>> The Open Knowledge Foundation >>> http://www.okfn.org >>> >>> http://twitter.com/jwyg >>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Open Government" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to [hidden email]. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to open-government >>> +[hidden email]. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/open-government?hl=en. |
Re: [open-gov] Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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While this issue should be discussed more and there is lots to dive into here it is deeply, deeply problematic to link making Stats Can's data open with the cut backs faced by Stats Can. There is no evidence that those two are linked (indeed, many of the cuts to its service predated the decision to make its data open), the revenue generated by statscan for its data was incredibly small. The budget cuts come from a government that (sadly) simply does not value data or the organization's role - this is a serious problem, but let's not conflate it with the opening of their data.
Dave On 2012-10-02, at 4:10 PM, Heather Morrison wrote: > Opening up data for commercial use takes more than a license. In many cases, it will be necessary to reconsider the funding model for producing the data in the first place. The experience with Statistics Canada is a case in point; Stats Can went to open data, then shortly thereafter to cutbacks which meant losses in staff and data collection. > > Governments in recent decades have expected departments to move to cost-recovery. To move to open, new sources of funding are needed. This is not easy to do in these times of fiscal restraint. > > Stats Can references: > > See the Statistics Canada Open Data License Agreement, March 29, 2012: > http://www.statcan.gc.ca/reference/licence-faq-eng.html > > Budget Cuts leave StatsCan girding for fewer surveys, less staff, Globe & Mail article, April 23, 2012: > http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/budget-cuts-leave-statscan-girding-for-fewer-surveys-less-staff/article4103776/ > > best, > > Heather Morrison > > > On 2012-10-02, at 2:52 PM, Karl Fogel wrote: > >> Thomas Lord <[hidden email]> writes: >>> For what it might be worth I'd also like to weigh in to express some >>> hope that MapLight might reconsider and drop its restrictions on some >>> forms of commercial use of some of the data they offer. [...] >> >> What Tom said. This may be "open" in some sense, but it's not "open >> source" in the sense of giving people true freedom to do the unexpected. >> Enforcing non-commerciality is indeed "contrary to the spirit of the >> open government movement", as he put it. >> >> People often use non-commerciality restrictions to accomplish what they >> could better accomplish with a simple Share-Alike provision -- and the >> latter would be truly open too. (Of course, there's more going on in >> this case than just commercial-use issues.) >> >> I hope MapLight sees the light. >> >> [Speaking only for myself, not Civic Commons; I just used that address >> because I believe it's the one I'm able to post here with.] >> >> -Karl >> >>> Another licensing term I think is horribly, horribly >>> problematic says: >>> >>> "User will, upon MapLight's request, provide >>> MapLight with monthly traffic statistics (visitors >>> and pageviews) for web pages that use MapLight >>> Data. MapLight does not distribute user-specific >>> traffic statistics except in cases where we have >>> obtained the user's permission. MapLight reserves >>> the right to publish usage statistics aggregated >>> across multiple users. News media exemption: The >>> requirements in this section 5 do not apply if you >>> are using the MapLight Data only as part of news >>> reporting, research reports, or commentary published >>> on your site." >>> >>> And then there's this one: >>> >>> "These terms may be modified at any time. >>> MapLight will send notification of changes >>> to the MapLight Data Users email list." >>> >>> With those terms I personally can't see any good way >>> to build anything at all on MapLight data. There >>> are too many restrictions and too much uncertainty. >>> This effectively silos the data in a way that I >>> think runs contrary to the spirit of the >>> open government movement. >>> >>> -t >>> >>> >>> >>> On Tue, 2012-10-02 at 21:18 +0200, Jonathan Gray wrote: >>>> My mistake, Heather! >>>> >>>> >>>> I was under this impression from the press release, which says: "The >>>> MapLight Money and Politics Data Set can also be downloaded or >>>> accessed via API by citizens and journalists for free *non-commercial* >>>> use in websites, widgets, and apps." (my emphasis). >>>> >>>> >>>> I will forward the data license to the Open Definition Advisory >>>> Council [1], to see if they think this is compliant with the Open >>>> Definition [2]: >>>> >>>> >>>> http://maplight.org/data/get/federal-money-and-politics-dataset/license >>>> >>>> J. >>>> >>>> [1] http://opendefinition.org/advisory-council/ >>>> [2] http://opendefinition.org/ >>>> >>>> On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 9:13 PM, Heather Morrison <[hidden email]> >>>> wrote: >>>> Cool resource - thanks for sharing this, Michael! >>>> >>>> The Open Knowledge Foundation's Jonathan Gray's comment >>>> misportrays the license for this resource. >>>> >>>> Here is what it actually says: "free of charge for all uses >>>> that are freely available to the public. For example, you may >>>> use the MapLight Data on free public websites (including >>>> ad-supported websites); in news reporting available to the >>>> public; in academic research; in blog posts; and in mobile >>>> apps offered free of charge". >>>> http://maplight.org/data/get/federal-money-and-politics-dataset/license >>>> >>>> This is not a CC license, but it more closely resembles >>>> Sharealike than Noncommercial. >>>> >>>> best, >>>> >>>> Heather Morrison >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 2012-10-02, at 11:57 AM, Michael Lenczner wrote: >>>> >>>>> fyi >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >>>>> From: Jonathan Gray <[hidden email]> >>>>> Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 2:50 PM >>>>> Subject: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight >>>> Launches New US >>>>> Money and Politics Data Set >>>>> To: [hidden email], >>>> [hidden email] >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Might be of interest. Shame it is all under a non-commercial >>>> license! >>>>> >>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >>>>> From: Daniel Newman <[hidden email]> >>>>> Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 8:23 PM >>>>> Subject: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and >>>> Politics Data Set >>>>> To: sunlightlabs <[hidden email]> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Free, Public MapLight Money and Politics Data Set Launches >>>> Today, >>>>> Includes All Federal Campaign Contributions >>>>> >>>>> Hosted on Google Fusion Tables for Easy Searching and Bulk >>>> Download >>>>> Accessible by API >>>>> >>>>> Oct. 2, 2012—MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization >>>> that >>>>> reveals money's influence on politics, announces the launch >>>> of the >>>>> MapLight Money and Politics Data Set, an easy-to-access, >>>> downloadable >>>>> database of MapLight-enhanced Federal Elections Commission >>>> (FEC) >>>>> campaign finance data for free public use. The data set >>>> includes all >>>>> federal contributions, independent expenditures (including >>>> super >>>>> PACs), and candidate and committee totals and will update >>>> regularly >>>>> with the most current data from the FEC. >>>>> >>>>> "MapLight is excited to offer this critical civic data in a >>>> way that >>>>> is more timely and accessible than ever before, said Daniel >>>> G. Newman, >>>>> MapLights co-founder and president. "It will be wonderful to >>>> see what >>>>> the web community builds with this continually-updated free >>>> public >>>>> data, using the latest tools from Google Fusion Tables." >>>>> >>>>> Citizens, journalists, and programmers can now view, search, >>>> sort, >>>>> filter, and visualize (with charts, line graphs, bar graphs, >>>> scatter >>>>> plots, and timelines) federal campaign contributions using >>>>> Fusion Tables. Data can also be merged with outside >>>> databases, and >>>>> visualizations can be easily embedded into blogs, media >>>> sites, and >>>>> more. >>>>> >>>>> The MapLight Money and Politics Data Set can also be >>>> downloaded or >>>>> accessed via API by citizens and journalists for free >>>> non-commercial >>>>> use in websites, widgets, and apps. The data set includes >>>> continually >>>>> updated information on all current candidates for the House, >>>> Senate, >>>>> and U.S. Presidentincluding how much each has raised and >>>> spentmaking >>>>> it easy for election-related websites to integrate this >>>> newsworthy >>>>> information. >>>>> >>>>> Read more: >>>> http://maplight.org/maplight-launches-fec-money-and-politics-data-set >>>>> >>>>> ----- >>>>> Daniel Newman >>>>> President & Co-Founder >>>>> MapLight >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the >>>>> Groups "sunlightlabs" group. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to >>>> [hidden email]. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>> [hidden email]. >>>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/sunlightlabs?hl=en. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Jonathan Gray >>>>> >>>>> Head of Community >>>>> The Open Knowledge Foundation >>>>> http://www.okfn.org >>>>> >>>>> http://twitter.com/jwyg >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> openspending mailing list >>>>> [hidden email] >>>>> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/openspending >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list >>>>> [hidden email] >>>>> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Jonathan Gray >>>> >>>> Head of Community >>>> The Open Knowledge Foundation >>>> http://www.okfn.org >>>> >>>> http://twitter.com/jwyg >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "Open Government" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to [hidden email]. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to open-government >>>> +[hidden email]. >>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/open-government?hl=en. > > _______________________________________________ > CivicAccess-discuss mailing list > [hidden email] > http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss |
Re: [open-gov] Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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I have to agree with Dave. I can't see linking open data to staff
cutbacks as valid. And, for the most part, any analysis I have seen where government organizations sell "data", the amounts made are minor. In some cases, literally non-existent and in other cases it is the shuffling of budget money from one public/government department to another. ... gerry tychon On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 5:19 PM, David Eaves <[hidden email]> wrote: > While this issue should be discussed more and there is lots to dive into here it is deeply, deeply problematic to link making Stats Can's data open with the cut backs faced by Stats Can. There is no evidence that those two are linked (indeed, many of the cuts to its service predated the decision to make its data open), the revenue generated by statscan for its data was incredibly small. The budget cuts come from a government that (sadly) simply does not value data or the organization's role - this is a serious problem, but let's not conflate it with the opening of their data. > > Dave > > > > > On 2012-10-02, at 4:10 PM, Heather Morrison wrote: > >> Opening up data for commercial use takes more than a license. In many cases, it will be necessary to reconsider the funding model for producing the data in the first place. The experience with Statistics Canada is a case in point; Stats Can went to open data, then shortly thereafter to cutbacks which meant losses in staff and data collection. >> >> Governments in recent decades have expected departments to move to cost-recovery. To move to open, new sources of funding are needed. This is not easy to do in these times of fiscal restraint. >> >> Stats Can references: >> >> See the Statistics Canada Open Data License Agreement, March 29, 2012: >> http://www.statcan.gc.ca/reference/licence-faq-eng.html >> >> Budget Cuts leave StatsCan girding for fewer surveys, less staff, Globe & Mail article, April 23, 2012: >> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/budget-cuts-leave-statscan-girding-for-fewer-surveys-less-staff/article4103776/ >> >> best, >> >> Heather Morrison >> >> >> On 2012-10-02, at 2:52 PM, Karl Fogel wrote: >> >>> Thomas Lord <[hidden email]> writes: >>>> For what it might be worth I'd also like to weigh in to express some >>>> hope that MapLight might reconsider and drop its restrictions on some >>>> forms of commercial use of some of the data they offer. [...] >>> >>> What Tom said. This may be "open" in some sense, but it's not "open >>> source" in the sense of giving people true freedom to do the unexpected. >>> Enforcing non-commerciality is indeed "contrary to the spirit of the >>> open government movement", as he put it. >>> >>> People often use non-commerciality restrictions to accomplish what they >>> could better accomplish with a simple Share-Alike provision -- and the >>> latter would be truly open too. (Of course, there's more going on in >>> this case than just commercial-use issues.) >>> >>> I hope MapLight sees the light. >>> >>> [Speaking only for myself, not Civic Commons; I just used that address >>> because I believe it's the one I'm able to post here with.] >>> >>> -Karl >>> >>>> Another licensing term I think is horribly, horribly >>>> problematic says: >>>> >>>> "User will, upon MapLight's request, provide >>>> MapLight with monthly traffic statistics (visitors >>>> and pageviews) for web pages that use MapLight >>>> Data. MapLight does not distribute user-specific >>>> traffic statistics except in cases where we have >>>> obtained the user's permission. MapLight reserves >>>> the right to publish usage statistics aggregated >>>> across multiple users. News media exemption: The >>>> requirements in this section 5 do not apply if you >>>> are using the MapLight Data only as part of news >>>> reporting, research reports, or commentary published >>>> on your site." >>>> >>>> And then there's this one: >>>> >>>> "These terms may be modified at any time. >>>> MapLight will send notification of changes >>>> to the MapLight Data Users email list." >>>> >>>> With those terms I personally can't see any good way >>>> to build anything at all on MapLight data. There >>>> are too many restrictions and too much uncertainty. >>>> This effectively silos the data in a way that I >>>> think runs contrary to the spirit of the >>>> open government movement. >>>> >>>> -t >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Tue, 2012-10-02 at 21:18 +0200, Jonathan Gray wrote: >>>>> My mistake, Heather! >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> I was under this impression from the press release, which says: "The >>>>> MapLight Money and Politics Data Set can also be downloaded or >>>>> accessed via API by citizens and journalists for free *non-commercial* >>>>> use in websites, widgets, and apps." (my emphasis). >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> I will forward the data license to the Open Definition Advisory >>>>> Council [1], to see if they think this is compliant with the Open >>>>> Definition [2]: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> http://maplight.org/data/get/federal-money-and-politics-dataset/license >>>>> >>>>> J. >>>>> >>>>> [1] http://opendefinition.org/advisory-council/ >>>>> [2] http://opendefinition.org/ >>>>> >>>>> On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 9:13 PM, Heather Morrison <[hidden email]> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> Cool resource - thanks for sharing this, Michael! >>>>> >>>>> The Open Knowledge Foundation's Jonathan Gray's comment >>>>> misportrays the license for this resource. >>>>> >>>>> Here is what it actually says: "free of charge for all uses >>>>> that are freely available to the public. For example, you may >>>>> use the MapLight Data on free public websites (including >>>>> ad-supported websites); in news reporting available to the >>>>> public; in academic research; in blog posts; and in mobile >>>>> apps offered free of charge". >>>>> http://maplight.org/data/get/federal-money-and-politics-dataset/license >>>>> >>>>> This is not a CC license, but it more closely resembles >>>>> Sharealike than Noncommercial. >>>>> >>>>> best, >>>>> >>>>> Heather Morrison >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On 2012-10-02, at 11:57 AM, Michael Lenczner wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> fyi >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >>>>>> From: Jonathan Gray <[hidden email]> >>>>>> Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 2:50 PM >>>>>> Subject: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight >>>>> Launches New US >>>>>> Money and Politics Data Set >>>>>> To: [hidden email], >>>>> [hidden email] >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Might be of interest. Shame it is all under a non-commercial >>>>> license! >>>>>> >>>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >>>>>> From: Daniel Newman <[hidden email]> >>>>>> Date: Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 8:23 PM >>>>>> Subject: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and >>>>> Politics Data Set >>>>>> To: sunlightlabs <[hidden email]> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Free, Public MapLight Money and Politics Data Set Launches >>>>> Today, >>>>>> Includes All Federal Campaign Contributions >>>>>> >>>>>> Hosted on Google Fusion Tables for Easy Searching and Bulk >>>>> Download >>>>>> Accessible by API >>>>>> >>>>>> Oct. 2, 2012—MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization >>>>> that >>>>>> reveals money's influence on politics, announces the launch >>>>> of the >>>>>> MapLight Money and Politics Data Set, an easy-to-access, >>>>> downloadable >>>>>> database of MapLight-enhanced Federal Elections Commission >>>>> (FEC) >>>>>> campaign finance data for free public use. The data set >>>>> includes all >>>>>> federal contributions, independent expenditures (including >>>>> super >>>>>> PACs), and candidate and committee totals and will update >>>>> regularly >>>>>> with the most current data from the FEC. >>>>>> >>>>>> "MapLight is excited to offer this critical civic data in a >>>>> way that >>>>>> is more timely and accessible than ever before, said Daniel >>>>> G. Newman, >>>>>> MapLights co-founder and president. "It will be wonderful to >>>>> see what >>>>>> the web community builds with this continually-updated free >>>>> public >>>>>> data, using the latest tools from Google Fusion Tables." >>>>>> >>>>>> Citizens, journalists, and programmers can now view, search, >>>>> sort, >>>>>> filter, and visualize (with charts, line graphs, bar graphs, >>>>> scatter >>>>>> plots, and timelines) federal campaign contributions using >>>>>> Fusion Tables. Data can also be merged with outside >>>>> databases, and >>>>>> visualizations can be easily embedded into blogs, media >>>>> sites, and >>>>>> more. >>>>>> >>>>>> The MapLight Money and Politics Data Set can also be >>>>> downloaded or >>>>>> accessed via API by citizens and journalists for free >>>>> non-commercial >>>>>> use in websites, widgets, and apps. The data set includes >>>>> continually >>>>>> updated information on all current candidates for the House, >>>>> Senate, >>>>>> and U.S. Presidentincluding how much each has raised and >>>>> spentmaking >>>>>> it easy for election-related websites to integrate this >>>>> newsworthy >>>>>> information. >>>>>> >>>>>> Read more: >>>>> http://maplight.org/maplight-launches-fec-money-and-politics-data-set >>>>>> >>>>>> ----- >>>>>> Daniel Newman >>>>>> President & Co-Founder >>>>>> MapLight >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the >>>>>> Groups "sunlightlabs" group. >>>>>> To post to this group, send email to >>>>> [hidden email]. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>>> [hidden email]. >>>>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/sunlightlabs?hl=en. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> Jonathan Gray >>>>>> >>>>>> Head of Community >>>>>> The Open Knowledge Foundation >>>>>> http://www.okfn.org >>>>>> >>>>>> http://twitter.com/jwyg >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> openspending mailing list >>>>>> [hidden email] >>>>>> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/openspending >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list >>>>>> [hidden email] >>>>>> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Jonathan Gray >>>>> >>>>> Head of Community >>>>> The Open Knowledge Foundation >>>>> http://www.okfn.org >>>>> >>>>> http://twitter.com/jwyg >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "Open Government" group. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to [hidden email]. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to open-government >>>>> +[hidden email]. >>>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/open-government?hl=en. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list >> [hidden email] >> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss > > _______________________________________________ > CivicAccess-discuss mailing list > [hidden email] > http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss |
Re: [open-gov] Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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There is also a growing number of people who believe that if the taxpayer funds it, that it should be open data. This might suggest that there would be less support for public funding to agencies that then charge for the data. I know I have increasingly mixed feelings about post-secondary educational institutions who receive massive public funding and then believe they should be able to make proprietary the outputs of the institutions. |
Re: [open-gov] Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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Heather;
Other agencies like NRCan made their data free for cost avoidance reasons, they could move staff who were doing the work of counting pennies to other more productive work and they discovered the payoff of having the private sector advertising their data in their products.
In the case of StatCan we do not know who exactly got laid off and where they worked. For instance, the marketing and sales staff still have much work to do as they still sell data and manage the sales of custom orders. The staff cut backs are everywhere in government at the moment, living in Ottawa, every third person is talking about it.
Although, I agree that we need to gradually help organizations be more open, at least public organizations, I am not sure how the private sector and NGOs can make all their data free if this is the only way they can generate revenue, as we all know, data are never really free and much work goes into making them useful, collecting them, properly analyzing them.
University libraries, have their mandate, the clients they serve, and the regressive licences they have to adhere to by data providers, renders it nearly impossible for them to share more freely. The cost of the journal databases alone are incredibly prohibitive, and they no longer even own the object they purchased, the journal is licenced not owned as it was in the paper world, and once on the dbase track the prices just keep going up. They also licence the data, when it comes to StatCan, the DLI did not pay for data but paid for licences and services and so on.
When it comes to NGOs, they too struggle with similar issues, so what is the business model? On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 8:16 AM, Russell McOrmond <[hidden email]> wrote:
Tracey P. Lauriault
Post Doctoral Fellow Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre
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Re: [open-gov] Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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I have to agree that Universities have to operate within their
mandate and structure but it is a frustration that publicly funded
research is then published via non-open channels (private journals)
that are expensive to access.
In addition, data collected or produced using public funds should be freely available as open data. I understand from this quote in the U of A's IT Plan that: "SSHRC, NSERC, and CIHR are considering policies whereby data created through their grants must be made open (where practical). Open access extends to resources including data created through public funding (institutional data, research data), source code, and educational artifacts". I am convinced that if research data is published openly it will increase the quality of the data and the quality of the results due to better data diligence and management. ... gerry tychon On 03/10/2012 6:51 AM, Tracey P.
Lauriault wrote:
Heather; |
Re: [open-gov] Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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In reply to this post by Tracey P. Lauriault
On 12-10-03 08:51 AM, Tracey P. Lauriault wrote:
> When it comes to NGOs, they too struggle with similar issues, so what is > the business model? As you know, I'm working at such an NGO. I'm a sysadmin and software developer (not a representative, not involved in policy) at Canadiana.org , which scans public domain material, and does preservation and access. We are subscriber funded, with the largest of our subscribers being publicly funded libraries. We're only able to be open access when someone pays for something to be open access. While our subscribers are publicly funded, we aren't. While I (and nearly everyone here) wishes we were always open access, the funds to do that are fairly rare and collection specific. I think the public sector is, however, in an entirely different scenario than the private sector (which includes NGO's like Canadiana). Public funding should be tied to public licensing, while private funding is where a full spectrum of business models are legitimate. While publicly funded projects of private sector organizations should still be open access, trying to make that per-project distinction in the public sector is problematic -- suggesting that thee organization itself should be private sector if it wants to mix and match that way. The thing with the educational sector, post-secondary in particular, is that they are public sector that wants to be given the freedoms enjoyed by the private sector. I see it all the time: they want the government to create exceptions to statutory monopolies on the inputs to their institutions (copyright/patent exceptions, etc), want public funding, and then want royalties or other control from statutory monopolies on the output. I consider this unfair -- possibly even unethical -- behavior. But this is off-topic. I mention it only in the context of cut-backs vs open access in that a growing number of people see it opposite to how it was suggested: that having material not be open access justifies cuts to public funding -- or that public funding should be tied to a requirement that the outputs be open access. -- Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/> Please help us tell the Canadian Parliament to protect our property rights as owners of Information Technology. Sign the petition! http://l.c11.ca/ict "The government, lobbied by legacy copyright holders and hardware manufacturers, can pry my camcorder, computer, home theatre, or portable media player from my cold dead hands!" |
Re: [open-gov] Fwd: [OpenSpending] Fwd: [sunlightlabs] MapLight Launches New US Money and Politics Data Set
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Gerry;
I agree with you. The problem is our funding organizations do not mandate this nor fund data management, except for the International Polar Year projects, and when funding organizations do request that this be the case, there are no repositories within which to deposit these. There is no data archive of research data in Canada, and the sad story of the Library and Archives Canada decimation is not going to help. There is also no federal infrastructure funding to build such repositories although the Canadian Association of Research Libraries are beginning to collaborate on building trusted digital repositories (TDRs). These however, at institutional levels in research libraries focus on their faculty and alumni collections, primarily the output of research such as papers and have not yet moved to data. The issue they are having with papers is licencing, so they may not even be able to deposit papers by their own due to archaic licencing practices which preclude deposit into a TDR. If you look at the Industry Canada data consultations and the TBS Open Government consultation submissions, you will see mention of this issues, but alas, those did not make it into the "what did people say" synopses nor in the Open Government Plans. Here is a group working toward making research data accessible, at least to researchers, they are not very citizen and public oriented, http://rds-sdr.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/. There have also been at least 10 reports and consultations carried out on this topic, and again, no action nor any money nor any infrastructure. So when we advocate for open data, we also need to advocate for infrastructure. Glenn on this list may have something to add as he has been involved with the Research Data Strategy over the years. Cheers t On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 12:00 PM, Russell McOrmond <[hidden email]> wrote:
-- Tracey P. Lauriault Post Doctoral Fellow Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre
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