Legal, Economic, and Organizational

Issues in GIS

Outline

Legal- Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights- Liability- GIS in Court

Economic- Government role in data dissemination- GIS industry

Organizational- Standards

Legal Issues

Note

The law in the digital environment is in flux

There is little precedence, or case law, upon which to build for the internet community in general and the transfer of electronic spatial data in particular

Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights Copyright is the exclusive right given

to a creator to reproduce, publish, perform, broadcast, and adapt work

Intellectual property typically refers to the rights conferred by the grant of a copyright

Copyright protects the investment of time and effort by preventing the unauthorized use of protected material

How Does Spatial Data Fit?

Facts are not copyrightable spatial data = facts

But data presentation (i.e. maps) are copyrightable

Therefore data providers protect their interests through non-disclosure contracts

Electronic Data…

Cannot strictly be considered a commodity of trade or a good

When stolen, the victim may not know of the theft

When information is sold, the vendor still has it and may sell it again

Intellectual property right laws vary internationally – internet impact

Thus the boundaries between criminal law and intellectual property law blurs

“To permit legal action against data theft, data publishers will have to devise an armoury of techniques to investigate and ‘reverse engineer’ images and digital maps to assert and prove provenance. ‘Finger printing’ of geospatial data with distinctive but invisible features thus seems certain to become more widespread.” (Rhind chap 56: 777)

Liability

Legal liability is based on the concept of causing harm

“Knowing where liability lies is the whole basis of the legal argument” (Cho 1998)

There are two key forms of liability: Liability in contract Liability in tort

Liability in Contract

Liability in contract arises when one party fails to perform their duty or responsibility (express or implied terms)

A breach of contract entitles the other party to a remedy

Four types of computer contracts and therefore four sources of liability: Hardware Software Personal contracts Contracts for the use of service

bureaus to conduct computer work

Liability in Contract II

Limitations to Liability

Exclusion clauses e.g. financial or time

Boilerplate clauses the classic fine print

Disclaimers e.g. accuracy

specification

GIS Vendors Limit Liability

By typically inserting a no-liability clause in their software agreements

No warranty on performance suitability of functions

Liability in Tort

Incorporates common law principles of: duty of care breach of that duty damage incurred causation

Difficulty in determining extent

But…

Tort liability is subjective and ambiguous

The potential “victim” also has a duty to minimize the impact of damage or loss, i.e. who is to blame when a silly GIS user does bad GIS?

Areas of Negligence in GIS Hardware, software and systems

operations – avoided by disclaimers

Error in supply of data, incorrect analysis, and misrepresentation and fraud

Breach of statutory duty – sovereign immunity?

So Who Do We Sue? “There are a number of possibilities. They include: data

providers (for neglecting to tag their data with error information, for charging too much, for imposing unreasonable and archaic precomputer-age access restrictions, and for slavish adherence to outmoded copyright legislation to protect their investment); GIS vendors (for selling systems that have no warranty, for overcharging users, for selling deficient systems, and for neglecting error propagation and certain areas of functionality); system builders (for failing to develop intrinsically safe applications and customizations from the GIS tools available); the end user (for pressing the keys or wiggling a GUI); and the decision makers (for believing the results).” (Openshaw 1993: 457)

Minimizing Liability in GIS

The universal adoption of standards

Rigorous application of metadata

Professionalization of GIS practitioners

international accreditation code of conduct

Another Way is… to just give the data away

“Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, contractors, or subcontractors, make any warranty, express or implied, nor assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, nor represent that its use would not infringe on privately owned rights.”

USGS

GIS in Court

GIS is used as substantive evidence in legal proceedings

….but GIS can lie

Industry needs certification to ensure: Expertise – in a quickly changing field Professionalism – ethical conduct

Economic Issues

Government Role in Data Dissemination

Two options: open access limited access through “user pays”

Government uses public money so data belongs to public?

Does a democratic society stem from one’s ability to access information?

Open Access

Pros: increase social and economic benefits ensure primacy of public interest avoid creation of government monopoly encourage development of industry

Cons: National security Who assures accuracy, is legally

responsible?

The U.S. Situation

Data is disseminated by the federal government freely or at cost of reproduction or dissemination

Exceptions include: matters of national defense confidential commercial information Some geological and geophysical

information

Limited Access (e.g. UK) Spatial data is sold at a price “the

market can bear”

Profits are reinvested into equipment and related activity

Closed access to commercially valuable GIS data prevails in UK and much of Europe

Commodification of Spatial Data

In US a huge industry in secondary data products has developed as a result of government policy

This has led to product differentiation in order to capture a market niche

Future of services over software (ArcIMS) – even more added value

The Future of GIS

From data providers to service providers

From monolithic GIS to distributed GIS over the internet in other software packages

From GIS specialists in monolithic software to GIS specialists in niche applications or services

Organizational Issues

Dispersed GIS

Formerly GIS was centralized now it is dispersed among various

organizations

Problem of data coordination we need standards e.g. COMPASS

NSDI (National Spatial Data Infrastructure)

“a comprehensive and coordinated environment for the production, management, dissemination, and use of geospatial data. The NSDI was conceived to be the totality of the policies, technology, institutions, data and individuals that were producing and using geospatial data within the USA.”

(Rhind Chap56: 782)

GSDI (Global Spatial Data Infrastructure)

A global framework of compatible NSDI’s to support the examination of critical global issues as environmental, social, and economic issues cross borders

Supports ISO/TC211 standards towards interoperability

ISO/TC 211 and OGC There is overlap and co-operation

between these two specifications

They aim to enhance communication and ensure interoperability

OGC’s vision:“the complete integration of geospatial data and geoprocessing resources into mainstream computing”