Thursday, May 5, 2005

More on the Santorum bill: David Bollier, Privatizing the Weather: AccuWeather...accuses the government of undercutting its business, and has now prevailed upon Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania to introduce legislation (S. 786) that would require the National Weather Service to suppress a lot of its data and retreat to the pre-Internet era....More to the point, who's duplicating whom? AccuWeather relies upon the Weather Service's free data, then charges 15,000 customers for its proprietary work-ups. For AccuWeather/Santorum to demand that the Weather Service shut off public access to its data is essentially asking that AccuWeather be given a lucrative monopoly and have the public pay for it. Should libraries be shut down because they 'compete' with bookstores? Should the national parks be eliminated because they offer an alternative to Kampgrounds of America? The Santorum bill is really about rank protectionism – for a cry-baby business and a vulnerable political ideology. AccuWeather wants a subsidized, competition-free business, and Republican ideologues want to stamp out a 'bad example' of government meeting public needs more efficiently than private businesses. Making weather data (or court opinions or SEC filings) available as an open-access public good actually stimulates more business activity than awarding it to a fat-and-happy monopolist. An open-source data platform is more likely to stimulate innovation than a closed, proprietary one. (Via Open Access News.) As a frequent user of the every improving National Weather Service site, I find this proposal very disturbing. There is no evidence that AccuWeather or any other commercial provider will have the financial incentives to deliver the kinds of detailed weather products that I can find in the National Weather Service. For example, I can get local forecasts for mountain areas that AccuWeather doesn't care about, which are critical when deciding to travel in the backcountry in winter. Many people besides me depend on having the best possible detailed local forecasts for their safety while outdoors for work or recreation. Senator Santorum's bill would have the real risk of putting many of us at increased risk, not only skiers but also farmers, sailors, hunters, hikers, scouts, and many others. 11:49:20 PM

Linguists boycott Kansas intelligent design hearings: The state board of education in Kansas plans to hold hearings in May on the 'intelligent design' theory of the origin of English, which claims that the language was constructed in the early 16th century by a committee of unknown experts...(Via Language Log.) Geoff Pullum in great sarcastic form (as always, I hasten to add). If you don't read Language Log regularly, this is just a delicious appetizer for a constantly replenished table. Subscribe to the feed, it's free and it has no pledge breaks. (I wonder how they pay for the rent at Language Log Plaza, given the way real estate is going in downtown Philadelphia). 9:01:42 PM