Denver, Colo. — March 10, 2006 — The GeoData Alliance announces publication of Geospatial Digital Rights Management. Tim Case, Chair of the GeoData Alliance Council of Trustees, said “We are very pleased to make this report available. It describes the progress that has been made in efforts to adapt the tools of digital rights management for use in the geospatial arena. Both private and public sector managerial and technical professionals who want to learn about geoDRM will find it particularly useful.” The 98-page report includes an introduction to digital rights management (DRM) and why the geospatial case is unique, and it places GeoDRM in a technical and policy context. The report also documents the accomplishments of a cooperative agreement executed by the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC), the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and the GeoData Alliance.
In the Foreword, Roberta Balstad, Director of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University, notes that research progress is sometimes slowed by the lack of technologies and policies to manage rights to geospatial information and points out that “… this project illustrates the value of developing networks to accomplish shared goals.”
Vanessa Lawrence, Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, the national mapping agency of Great Britain, endorses these efforts to advance technology and policy in GeoDRM, noting that: “This report will be of interest to all professionals who manage geospatial data, whether they are new to DRM or seeking an update on its status. A balanced perspective on GeoDRM has significant potential to benefit both providers and consumers of data.”
Geospatial Digital Rights Management is available as a 6.3-megabyte pdf file on the GeoData Alliance web site, www.geodataalliance.org, the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. web site, www.opengeospatial.org, and the FGDC web site, www.fgdc.gov. The body of the report is a 254K file available at www.geodataalliance.org/report_minus_appendices.pdf.
About the GeoData Alliance
The GeoData Alliance is an innovative, non-profit organization open to all individuals and institutions committed to using geographic information to improve the health of our communities, our economies, and the Earth. Its purpose is to foster trusted and inclusive processes to enable the creation, effective and equitable flow, and beneficial use of geographic information. For more information, see the web site at www.GeoDataAlliance.org or contact Tina Cary, email info@GeoDataAlliance.org, phone (303) 774.8415.
