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From: Mike Batchelor (no email)
Date: Thu Dec 02 2004 - 19:37:02 EST
It means as long as NOAA keeps this policy in place, you won't have to
pay Accuweather or any other commercial entity for access to weather
data US taxpayers already paid the NOAA and NWS to collect. Everyone
gets equal access to the weather data. No one is privileged, not even
commercial interests that think NOAA and NWS "competes" with their
packaged products based on NOAA data.
When the NOAA announced last year they were accepting comments on the
new policy, there was an effort to "capture" the NOAA by commercial
interests and prevent this policy from taking effect. It recalls how
the FCC has been "captured" by commercial broadcasters, and doesn't
really represent the public interest anymore. The NOAA has decided
that isn't going to happen to their agency, which is good news for all
weather watchers.
On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 19:59:17 -0500, Courtney Thomas
<> wrote:
>
> Mike,
>
> I'm late to the party and ignorant, so please overlook my ineptitude.
>
> How does this affect me as a sailor, please ?
>
> Cordially,
> Courtney
>
>
>
>
> Mike Batchelor wrote:
>
> > The NOAA has adopted a new environmental data access policy for all
> > the agencies under it, including the National Weather Service. Here's
> > the new policy:
> >
> > http://www.nws.noaa.gov/partnershippolicy/
> >
> > I saw this news posted on Slashdot.org, where the geeks are claiming
> > to have influenced the decision to adopt an open-access policy. The
> > comments submitted in support of open-access from a Slashdot referral
> > are indeed about 1/3 of all comments, so they may have a claim.
> > http://weather.gov/im/fwcomments.htm Have a look at the comments,
> > there are a whole bunch of nearly identical form letters opposing the
> > new policy, the first of which was posted by a Director of Sale &
> > Media for Accuweather, Inc. Accuweather, of course, would profit
> > immensely if the data collected with public funds that their business
> > depends on could be locked up in proprietary formats that only they
> > were the gatekeepers for. It is nice to see government responding to
> > the needs of the public, rather than to paid lobbyists for a change.
> > It is ironic, I think, that the bureaucracy is often more responsive
> > to the public than elected officials themselves.
> >
> > In any event, the NOAA's new policy, adopted in spite of opposition
> > from commercial weather interests, will ensure all its data and
> > products will me made "available in internet-accessible,
> > vendor-neutral form and will use other dissemination technologies,
> > e.g. satellite broadcast, NOAA Weather Radio, and wireless, as
> > appropriate." To underscore the rationale that guided this policy
> > decision, the new policy lists as the first principle: "Mission
> > connection: NOAA's information services will support the NOAA mission.
> > As a government agency, NOAA recognizes its core responsibility to
> > protect life and property."
> >
> > Accuweather can launch their own satellites and setup their own sensor
> > network if they want to charge premium fees for access to their
> > proprietary information.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> s/v Mutiny
> Rhodes Bounty II
> lying Oriental, NC
> WDB5619
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
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