Should Taxpayers Pay Twice For Weather Data?

theodp writes "Thanks to O.M.B. Circular A-130, taxpayers now enjoy free access to SEC, Patent Office, and IRS data over the Internet. Now the Bush administration must decide whether to order the National Weather Service to make taxpayer-funded weather readings freely available on the Net, ignoring complaints from an industry trade group that doing so violates pre-Internet era agreements."

Comments

I want my info NOW!

[__aaclcg7560]

The info should be free, especially if the info being made available over the Internet. If hardware is an issue, I'm sure Congress can spare selling off a couple of $500 toliet seats to get a nice Linux server and a fat pipe installed.

As for all these "pre-Internet" agreements, the times are a changing and the agreements should have a mandatory upgrade. There's no reason why the federal government should be subsidizing backward-thinking industries in the 21st century.

Of course they should!

[cabalamat2]

Of course taxpayers should be forced to pay twice! America represents government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations. The people don't get a look-in.

On a similar note DRM schemes and region coding are obviously good things, because corporations want them.

And Linux is a cancer invented by communists. Bill Gates says so, so it must be true.

It's not taxpayer's money

[Serveert]

it's free printed money. Thanks repubs! You controll all 3 branches now, no excuse.