Interesting paper on public sector information from Marc de Vries, who has been involved in most of the major PSI studies and projects (EU Green Paper on PSI, all EPSINet and EPSIPlus projects, the MEPSIR study, the studies on exclusive arrangements and most recently the ePSIplatform and LAPSI projects). In the spirit of the re-use philosophy he kindly allowed this great article to be republished. This paper provides an overview of the interaction of the legal framework impacting on the re-use of public sector information (PSI). Title: ‘Reverse engineering Europe’s PSI re-use rules – towards an integrated conceptual framework for PSI re-use’
Outline
Despite various studies evincing the huge potential locked up in public sector information (PSI), this potential is far from being fully exploited. To a large extent, this failure is caused by the immensely complex legal labyrinth surrounding PSI re-use. This complexity works in two ways: public sector bodies do not comply with the regulatory framework and re-users do not avail themselves of the legal instruments offered, resulting in an unexploited economic potential.
What makes the legal framework so complex is the transcending nature of PSI re-use, as it blends four areas of law – freedom of information law, ICT law, intellectual property law and competition law – that, throughout the years, have been regulated at a European, national and even sectoral level, but in isolation. The fundamental impact that ICT developments have on our society, subsequently also rocking the legal rules and underlying principles and axioms, makes the picture even more complicated.
In this article, I will reverse engineer these legal frameworks and demonstrate how they interact, culminating in a conceptual framework that allows public sector bodies and re-users (and courts where necessary) to apply and rely on the rules involved and to bring to the surface areas for policy action.
Contents
1. PSI a unique European opportunity
2. PSI potential is not yet fully exploited
3. The legal questions on PSI re-use blend four areas of law
4. Untangling the interaction: the PSI Utility Equation
5. Nothing as practical as a good theory!
6. Final observations on the role of the European Commission
Author: Marc de Vries, Publication Date: July 2010 Pages: 15 Pages
About the Author
Marc de Vries (info@devriesmarc.nl) holds professional degrees in both law and economics (Utrecht 1992). He has been involved in most of the major PSI studies and projects (EU Green Paper on PSI, all EPSINet and EPSIPlus projects, the MEPSIR study, the studies on exclusive arrangements and most recently the ePSIplatform and LAPSI projects). He has published various books and articles on PSI re-use. In 2005 he established Caselex (www.caselex.com), opening up national case law with a European connotation. Caselex currently holds almost 10,000 English summaries from national courts and competition authorities throughout Europe.
Note by the Author on Use of the Report
In the full spirit of the re-use philosophy, I cordially invite you to use and/or to pass on the link to, and contents of, this article within your networks and other fora, whereby I waive all rights, particularly copyrights, to this article under the condition that you cite the author: Vries, de, M. (2010), ‘Reverse engineering Europe’s PSI re-use rules – towards an integrated conceptual framework for PSI re-use’.
No related posts.
