DataCodes.INFO Project
From AcornWiki
The DataCodes.INFO Project is a non-profit archive of free data. What is free data? It is information unencumbered by overly restrictive copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Like open source software and other free software, DataCodes attempts to place as much high-quality data in the hands of people as possible.
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Project information
Who
The DataCodes.INFO Project is a project founded by Will Murray. It is considered a business unit of the Acorn IT Group, since Acorn underwrites and hosts the Project. However, the Project is not-for-profit, and Acorn IT Group's financial involvement is very limited. Any donations given to the Project will be kept separate and used exclusively for enhancing and expanding Project, not for gilding Acorn's treasury. Since the Project is not an IRS recognized non-profit organization (at least not yet), any donations will not be tax deductible (at least not in the United States).
What
Much like the Free Software Foundation The DataCodes.INFO Project seeks to promote computer users' rights to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer data. The DataCodes.INFO Project promotes the development and use of free data—that is, data unencumbered with pesky copyrights, patents, and other legal hurdles.
How
You can help by using the data provided on this site and other places that subscribe to our philosophy. While organizations like the ISO serve a very important purpose, controlling the use of the data and charging for its use runs contrary to the Project's goals. You can encourage organizations and companies that produce data to release it free of usage restrictions, free of charge, and free to redistribute.
We understand that it takes time, effort, and sometimes a lot of money to compile, process, and generate useful data. Data providers also worry that if they do not maintain tight controls over their data, it could become corrupted, mixed and polluted with other data, or even be stolen by another data provider who will then make money off of it. You can put pressure on data providers to relax restrictions, work with Projects like ours to safeguard the data, and once the data is free to everyone, a competitor would make very little money off of it. Point out the benefits that would come from releasing their data unencumbered—improved goodwill, better name recognition, and additional business related to the data they provide.
Projects
As of January 21, 2007, The DataCodes.INFO Project has three active projects. The Project has expanded slightly to include small amounts of application code in addition to raw data.
Contact information
Full contact information is available on the Project's Web site.
