(Like, proof just a little before you send, Seth) This literally went down the Friday before the contretemps broke out upstate. The only question is to what extent the fabulous enlightened sponsorship that produced this will continue under whatever develops out of that situation. We're very fortunate that this came out, because it sets the right stage and even if the promise here is pulled back in some way, the right discussion has now arisen in the right venue (for the first time in a legislature), discussion of this key area of concern, on the right terms, that we've needed to occur somewhere, somehow, since the 80's.
To a certain very great extent, I believe this is really "the cat out of the bag" for this area of concern: free software and "content" in government. As I repeat ad nauseum, the nature of information will do the rest and it's only repression that can stop it (as has been taking place since the 80's). All we needed was for it to be registered in an official, public legislative venue. Now we can fight for the rest with near absolute certainty of success, just by standing on principle. Seth > -----Original Message----- > From: Seth Johnson <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:05:58 -0400 > Subject: [FC-discuss] Free Software/Services at NY State Senate > > > > > > http://open.nysenate.gov/ > > > > > > Free and Open-Source Software & Services > > > > Welcome to the Open NYSenate > > > > To pursue its commitment to transparency and openness the New York > > State Senate (http://nysenate.gov/) is undertaking a cutting-edge > > program to not only release data, but help empower citizens and > give > > back to the community. Under this program the New York Senate will, > > for the first time ever, give developers and other users direct > > access > > to its data through APIs and release its original software to the > > public. By placing the data and technological developments > generated > > by the Senate in the public domain, the New York Senate hopes to > > invigorate, empower and engage citizens in policy creation and > > dialogue. > > > > What You'll Find Here > > > > * Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for building your > own > > applications and services > > * Embeddable widgets for easy sharing on your site, profile or > > blog > > * Original Software such as Drupal Modules and Java libraries > > * Data sets in a variety of formats, along with Plain Language > > and > > graphical explanations of important documents and definitions > > * The legal rules and licenses adopted by the Senate > guaranteeing > > that the information and tools here can be used freely > > > > Please take the data and tools offered here, mash them up, improve > > them and re-distribute them to help the Senate educate and engage > the > > citizens of New York. > > > > APIs > > > > The New York Senate has created a developer API to help > organizations > > and individuals compile the Senate data they want the way they > want. > > The basic goal was to parse the flat file records from the > > Legislative > > Retrieval System (LRS) > (http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menuf.cgi) > > into an open format. This data can then be queried via a simple > > RESTful API to produce output in any number of desired formats or > > standards - XML (RSS, ATOM, custom schemas), JSON, CSV, HTML > > (widgets). > > > > * Browse the Open Leg Service > (http://open.nysenate.gov/openleg) > > * View the Developer API documentation > > (http://open.nysenate.gov/openleg/doc) > > > > Embeddable Widgets > > > > Widgets are a fun and easy way to reach people with important > > information. Please view our widget library and help yourself to > the > > tools that will enhance the experience of your users, and ours, all > > over the web. If you have a widget of your own using our API or > data, > > please contact us and we may feature it here. > > *coming soon* > > > > Original Software > > > > As a user of Open-Source software the New York Senate wants to help > > give back to the community that has given it so much - including > this > > website. To meet its needs the Senate is constantly devleoping new > > code and fixing existing bugs. Not only does the Senate recognize > > that > > it has a responsibility to give back to the Open Source community, > > but > > public developments, made with public money should be public. > > > > You can find all the NY Senate source code published on Github at > > http://github.com/nysenatecio > > > > Data Sets > > > > The New York Senate's Open Data page > > (http://www.nysenate.gov/open-data) is the official repository of > all > > government data. There you can browse through data produced by and > > considered by the Senate in their original forms as well as various > > other file types created for your convenience; including but not > > limited to: Excel spreadsheets, .csv, text files and PDFs. To > > supplement the source data it is making available, the Senate has > > also > > created the Plain Language Initiative designed to help explain > > complex > > data sets and legal terms in plain language. > > > > * Browse Open Data (http://www.nysenate.gov/open-data) > > * Browse Plain Language Initiative > > (http://www.nymtasolutions.org/2009/) > > > > Open-Source Software & Software Licenses > > > > In order to make the Senate's information and software as public as > > possible, it is has adopted unique system using two types of > licenses > > - GNU General Public License (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html) > > as > > well as the BSD License > > (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php). This system > is > > meant to ensure the most public license is used in each specific > case > > such that: > > > > (i) Any Software released containing components with preexisting > GPL > > copyrights must be released pursuant to a GPL v3 copyright > > restriction. > > > > (ii) Any Software created independently by the Senate without any > > preexisting licensing restrictions on any of its components shall > be > > released under dual licensing and take one of two forms: (a) a BSD > > license, or (b) a GPL v3 license. The ultimate user of such > Software > > shall choose which form of licensing makes the most sense for his > or > > her project. > > > > (iii) Regarding Software containing preexisting copyright > > restrictions > > other than GPL, the CIO shall make the determination how he or she > > wishes to release such Software. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Discuss mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
