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Should Public Funds Mean Public Code?
Lisa points to this article on oreillynet with "two opposing viewpoints on whether all software created by publicly funded research should be licensed as open source, and the chance to weigh in yourself." Open-source software (under whatever license) seems to me like a good way to multiply the investment of tax dollars that public funding relies on, but the counterarguments offered here are interesting.
Code is no different than any other property...
Are Television shows created with public funds available for my use as source material in my own movies?
Are works of art (like the infamous Mapelthorpe photos) considered in the 'public domain'?
I honestly don't know the answer, but I'm sure someone has thought about this in another domain. I wish people would stop thinking that code/cyberspace is really as new and challenging as it seems.
-db
I'm working closely with the Holsten act, which basically esnures that when the government pays a private researcher a grant, they're paying for the results of the research, not "property of the labor". You know how a company "owns" anything you think up on company time? (If you read the contract carefully). Well it doesn't work that way with government-funded research, since the Holsten act. You can google for links, the implications have been discussed a great deal over the past few years...
Hope this helps.
-Paul.
The point is that all of the code may NOT be paid for by the public. Within that code may be closed, third-party code that the university was allowed access to. If you force the university to open the code then the third party might just pull out altogether. This isn't about whether it's right or wrong. It is just what will happen.
While you could potentially get the source to a "small, insignificant program," it won't necessarily work. There are a variety of exclusions that an agency could use to keep the source code private, and just about any of the ones below could be bended to prevent release.
From the DOJ: The exemptions authorize federal agencies to withhold information covering: (1) classified national defense and foreign relations information; (2) internal agency rules and practices; (3) information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law; (4) trade secrets and other confidential business information; (5) inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges; (6) information involving matters of personal privacy; (7) certain types of information compiled for law enforcement purposes; (8) information relating to the supervision of financial institutions; and (9) geological information on wells. The three exclusions, which are rarely used, pertain to especially sensitive law enforcement and national security matters.
So, as you can see, the FOIA does *not* mean you have access to everything.
Here is more information:
FOIA Reference Guide
It took some digging, but they refer to oil wells, and I think it has to do with the bidding process. This google cache was the most informative: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:hk27grUQmPYC: www.ira-wg.com/library/foia2.html+FOIA+oil+Wells+& hl=en
W
In many states, the money from the goverment for PBS mostly just keeps the transmitters running. When a PBS station wants to produce original content, they may get a goverment grant, but odds are that it will only cover a fraction of the cost. So, either the producing station applies for grants from corporations or foundations, or the station funds it with its own money (which it is probably hoping to make back in direct sales to schools or consumers, and licensing it for broadcast on other PBS stations.) If PBS were 100% government funded, then it would be possible to give assets away, but since money is always sparse, they feel they have to charge. Also, don't forget that some of the original PBS content isn't even produced by PBS stations, it's produced by private production companies and sold to PBS. Some stations create no content at all.
What your tax money is really paying for is a television signal to almost every home. PBS reaches something like 98% of homes. I believe the other networks are somewhere in the 80%'s and cable is in the 70%'s.
http://www.nyfairuse.org/law_is_copyrighted.xhtml1 b.asp
http://www.thompsonhine.com/news/nl/ebus_march200