The Commercialization of Public Sector Information: Delineating the Issues

Abstract:

"The past decades have witnessed an increasingly ‘market-oriented’ approach to the production and dissemination of public sector information. It has led to concern on the part of the private sector about unfair competition. It triggers fear about the accessibility of data, both in terms of availability and affordability. Freedom of information campaigners worry about the impact on the access rights which serve democratic accountability. The so-called commercialization of government information thus raises a variety of concerns. In order to be able to asses the validity of these concerns, and of regulatory means to address them, it is necessary to first describe which models of production and distribution make up this ‘commercialization’. The focus will be on the situation in the EU, notably the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, which exemplify different commercialization policies. These national policies, as well as the principles enshrined in the 2003 EU Directive on re-use of public sector information will be compared with US federal policy on access to and exploitation of public sector information. In the EU, the policy of the US tends to be seen as favourable to the public domain. To conclude some suggestions are made as regards means to prevent or correct negative consequences of commercialization."