[Foundation-l] UK government information changes on the way?

[Ray Saintonge]

Neil Harris wrote:

>The BBC is carrying an interesting story on possible changes in the 
>attitude of the UK government to the free use of government information. 
>At the moment, the Statute Law Database is Crown Copyright, as is nearly 
>all UK government information, with a commercial licence needed for any 
>use other than private study or non-commercial research.
>
>According to the BBC, this may be about to change, and the changes may 
>be part of a wider change in attitude to the free reuse of government data.
>
>Is this something that the Foundation or other interested Wikipedians 
>might be interested in pursuing with the UK government?
>
This sounds like a welcome development.  I think that this is one area 
where US law has got it right.  Having the UK do this could start the 
ball rolling in other countries.. 

I think that the suggestion that they might still require permissions, 
even free ones, unworkable.  I think requiring a simple disclaimer that 
the mirrored version of a law is not an official one should be enough to 
ensure that people aren't deceived.  From what I have seen of US 
material this does not seem to be a significant problem there.

Ec