For awhile now, the National Weather Service has been making weather data freely available in XML format over the Internet. Although technically "experimental," dozens of applications have sprung up to allow people to access this data on their personal computers (I use the open source "Meteorologist" application for my Powerbook). The NWS now wants to make this free access official, reasoning that since taxpayer money pays for the data, taxpayers should have access to it (the proposed policy change can be found here). However, it appears that the chairman of Accuweather (and leader in the commercial weathercaster industry) opposes this change, and wants the data restricted to those who will pay for it (and profit from it), and is asking (Word doc) his cronies to pressure the NWS not to adopt this policy. But you have a say, too: the comments page on the new policy is still open, and the NWS is taking comments until Wednesday June 30th. Add your voice!
(Via Open Access News)
