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Full-Text Articles in Intellectual Property Law
Public Transit Data Through An Intellectual Property Lens: Lessons About Open Data, Teresa Scassa
Public Transit Data Through An Intellectual Property Lens: Lessons About Open Data, Teresa Scassa
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article examines some of the challenges presented by the transition from ‘closed’ to open data within the municipal context, using municipal transit data as a case study. The particular lens through which this Article examines these challenges is intellectual property law. In a ‘closed data’ system, intellectual property law is an important means by which legal control over data is asserted by governments and their agencies. In an ‘open data’ context, the freedom to use and distribute content is a freedom from IP constraints. The evolution of approaches to open municipal transit data offers some interesting examples of the …
Free And Open Source Software In Municipal Procurement:The Challenges And Benefits Of Cooperation, Justin C. Colannino
Free And Open Source Software In Municipal Procurement:The Challenges And Benefits Of Cooperation, Justin C. Colannino
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The use of free and open source software by municipal governments is the exception rather than the rule. This is due to a variety of factors, including a failure of many municipal procurement policies to take into account the benefits of free software, free software vendors second-to-market status, and a lack of established free and open source software vendors in niche markets. With feasible policy shifts to improve city operations, including building upon open standards and engaging with free software communities, municipalities may be able to better leverage free and open source software to realize fully the advantages that stem …