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Lessig's "Creative Commons" @ The FAA

Posted by Hemos on from the flying-machines-scattered-on-the-ground dept.

tramm writes "The FAA, working with the EAA have put together a proposal to release old type certificates and blueprints once the copyright holders no longer exist. Sort of like Abandonware for airplanes. This very closely resembles Lawrence Lessig's idea of a creative commons, into which source code would be escrowed. Once the copyright expired or became abandonded, the sources would be released. "This set of legal guidelines will help the FAA develop a set of procedures to legally release what had previously been unnecessarily protected as proprietary data.". Hopefully the Copyright office will take note of the success here, as well as the Supreme Court's hearing of Eldred v Reno."

4 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Start with NASA by owlmeat · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd love to see acutual engineering documents and code for stuff like the Saturn V, the lunar module and the ground control computers

    --
    They stab it with their steely knives,

    But they just can't kill the beast.

    1. Re:Start with NASA by Caraig · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Unfortunately, you won't be able to. At least for the Saturn V.

      Y'see, the blueprints and engineering docs for the Saturn V were stored on microfilm. Time passed and, unfortunately, the ability to build the Saturn V was lost -- financial reasons, mostly. The aerospace industry had been given the financial equivalent of 100cc's of adrenaline with JFK's "space race." By the time the Apollo program ended, we were already unable to build the Saturn V. (This is why NASA moved on to cheaper, unmanned launches and the Space Shuttle.)

      If you really want them, though, I think we can work something out. Supposedly I live a few miles from the Saturn V's plans' final resting place. Legend has it that they are located somewhere in the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, New York City. This is probably incorrect, though. More likely, they were incinerated.

      --
      "I am an Adept of Tantric VAX."
  2. hold off on Creative Commons.... by EricEldred · · Score: 3, Interesting

    tramm is right in proposing that this abandonware project is similar to what has been discussed about the Creative Commons. But as one of the directors of the Commons, may I suggest we hold off much public discussion until the Commons is ready--maybe within a few weeks...

  3. What this will bring to aviation. by drink85cent · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Many of you have this all wrong.

    This only really applies to homebuilders. The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is out there to promote building of homebuilt aircraft. They want these documents out there in the open to promote homebuilding, not lets build such and such WWII aircraft and know how to build this jet.

    Most of these aircraft, most likely are little single-engined aircraft that most people dont understand one from another. This is really only applicable to you if you want to BUILD it and you want the plans or want to do some sort of coversion and you need the FAA approved STC.

    These plans and STCs are very expensive to get so people like to hold on to them and charge for their usage. SO when you cant find the person anymore, you're SOL.