Well, it seems that the realm of Public Service Information and what should be done with it, just got a little more interesting.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has announced that has part of it's web site revamp, it's going to be releasing most of the content under a Creative Commons license that allows the following:
- The right to share, copy and distribute the work
- The right to remix the work to create new works
It only appears to have one restriction:
- Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
In a nutshell, what the ABS is doing is saying "Here's what we have, take it, build on it, don't be afraid to make some money off it." It's a pretty good balance between the need to keep public information public and the drive to develop new businesses in economically fragile times.