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US Government Wants To Start Charging For Landsat, the Best Free Satellite Data On Earth (qz.com)
The U.S. government may begin charging users for access to five decades of satellite images of Earth. Quartz reports: Nature reports that the Department of Interior has asked an advisory board to consider the consequences of charging for the data generated by the Landsat program, which is the largest continuously collected set of Earth images taken in space and has been freely available to the public since 2008. Since 1972, Landsat has used eight different satellites to gather images of the Earth, with a ninth currently slated for a December 2020 launch. The data are widely used by government agencies, and since it became free, by an increasing number of academics, private companies and journalists. "As of March 31, 2018, more than 75 million Landsat scenes have been downloaded from the USGS-managed archive!" the agency noted on the 10th anniversary of the program.
Now, the government says the cost of sharing the data has grown as more people access it. Advocates for open data say the public benefit produced through research and business activity far outweigh those costs. A 2013 survey cited by Nature found that the dataset generated $2 billion in economic activity, compared to an $80 million budget for the program.
Now, the government says the cost of sharing the data has grown as more people access it. Advocates for open data say the public benefit produced through research and business activity far outweigh those costs. A 2013 survey cited by Nature found that the dataset generated $2 billion in economic activity, compared to an $80 million budget for the program.
There have only been seven Landsats. Landsats six died on the pad. Landsat 9 is being prepared for launch.
What those who want activist courts fear is rule by the people.
GPS
Device manufacturers pay royalties when they sell a device that supports GPS. There might be an exception for cell phones that only use GPS for 911 calls - but GPS is not free.
military protection
The US protects US interests and nothing else. Just look at all the ethnic cleansing that has occurred in Africa - it did not involve US interests so they never got involved.
US Navy keeping the sea routes open
Once again, this is for the benefit of America. I should note that this is also why the super-rich should pay more taxes. They benefit the most from taxpayer dollars - including military spending.
American citizens dying from hyper expensive medical costs
You are really going to blame the rest of the world for this??? American drug costs are determined, not by the cost of production, but by how much people are willing to pay.
Hello,
Just curious, I live in the USA, and I can *never* see a doctor "instantly". In fact, the last time I needed to see a doctor, my primary care doctor told me "soonest is next week" and the urgent care clinic I went to, it took 2 hours for me to see a nurse practitioner, not a doctor, and I had set up an appointment 8 hours earlier.
The above experience has been absolutely typical of all my doctor visits.
So, WHERE, in the USA, can you go anyplace and instantly see a doctor? Yeah, you might get one "instantly" if you walk into an emergency room with an arm dangling by a thread, but otherwise, in my experience, you're going to wait longer than your claims of BC performance.
Best,
--PeterM
Yeah, an hour is a short wait for a doctor in a clinic with no appointment in the US. Really, really short. And you don't get to see a doctor in the ER until the triage nurse says you can. My brother went to the ER with massive abdominal pain (turned out to be kidney stones) and was waiting for three hours before anyone even looked at him. That's what's typical.