
Public Resource demands the source code to America's operating system - rms
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/13/public-resource-dema.html
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ars
I hate how the building code costs so much to get. I want to build something,
and I want to know the right (legal?) way to do it, so I look it up - ha! It's
impossible to find out without paying big bucks.

In my case I was plumbing a sink and wanted to know when it was legal to
install one of those one way vent valves instead of a vent to the roof (in
some places you are allowed 3 per floor, or something like that as long as
certain conditions are met). I never did find out, so I just did what was
easier.

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jgfoot
Claims about the law being "locked behind a cash register" are overblown,
because everything the article is talking about are available from public
libraries. While this might not be enough for people who are used to consuming
everything they read through a web browser, it is not the same as "secret" or
even "closed-source." (And, by the way, both patents and the CFR are indeed
available online, just not in one single bulk download).

~~~
yummyfajitas
This is simply false for the "Incorporated by Reference" standards (see point
#2). Many regulations state "X must satisfy ANSII standard Y", when ANSII
standard Y is not free.

Additionally, some municipalities have local building codes available only for
a price.

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Kadin
Points 1 and 2 seem well taken. I'd like to hear more about the story behind
point 3, though.

> Last year, we pooled our money with Sunlight Foundation and other groups and
> forked over $17,000 for the bulk feed of the Code of Federal Regulations.
> Well, the product is defective and we want our money back.

In what way was the "product" "defective"? What was the product and who
supplied it? If it's the case of them asking for the CFR, and they're upset
because the CFR incorporates standards by reference, that doesn't seem like
grounds to go asking for a refund; that's pretty common knowledge (because of
how much it sucks).

They need to balance their legitimate concerns with not sounding petulant
about $17k -- small beans in the world of government.

