[IP] Action Alert - Protect Public Weather Data!!

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: EFFector list <editor@eff.org>
Organization: EFF
Reply-To: EFFector list <editor@eff.org>
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:15:43 -0500
To: <farber@cis.upenn.edu>
Subject: EFFector 18.13: Action Alert - Protect Public Weather Data!!


* Action Alert: Protect Public Weather Data!

The National Weather Service (NWS), a taxpayer-funded agency,
monitors thousands of weather stations around America in
order to predict hurricanes, sunshine, and every
meteorological event in between.  In addition to the raw
data that it assembles, NWS has recently started offering
more user-friendly info to the public via the Internet.
So why has Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) introduced a bill
that would restrict the kind of information that NWS can
freely share?

The National Weather Services Duties Act (S.786) would ban
NWS from "competing" with private entities by making it
unlawful for the agency to publish user-friendly weather
data and barring NWS experts from speaking one-on-one to
news agencies.  Why?  Because Senator Santorum believes
that companies like AccuWeather would make more money if
they didn't have to compete with "free."  That's right -
he believes you should pay twice for your weather
information in order to line the pockets of the private
weather industry, which *already* benefits from repackaging
the data that tax-funded agencies like NWS give away.

That's not only unfair, it's a bad precedent for our
national information resources.  Help stop S.786 by
sending a letter to your senators today!

Make your voice heard with the EFF Action Center:
<http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=123>

More info:
Text of National Weather Services Duties Act of 2005:
<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:s786:>

Palm Beach Post: "Feds' Weather Information Could Go Dark":
<http://www.eff.org/cgi/tiny?urlID=450>

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