Comments on: MTA struggling in an age of open information

By: Will the MTA catch the open information bug? :: Second Ave. Sagas | A New York City Subway Blog

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:05:10 +0000

[...] we have already seen it in practice here in New York. In September, I wrote a lengthy piece about the MTA’s struggles in an age of open information. At the time, they were battling Chris Schoenfeld, creator of the Station Stops iPhone App (and an [...]

By: Informed

Informed — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:01:40 +0000

Free as in do not make money from it? I don’t think anyone has issue with that.

The rest of the US transit systems have license agreements which state (links from http://code.google.com/p/googl.....blicFeeds)

TriMet “All materials published on the Site, including, but not limited to, trademarks, service marks, maps, schedules, arrival information, fare information, photographs and illustrations (collectively, the “Content”), is the property of TriMet unless otherwise indicated.”
BART “BART maintains title, ownership, rights and interest in and to Data”
San Mateo Count Distric Transit “The Transit District maintains title, ownership, rights and interest in and to Data.”
Dallas Area Rapid Transit ” To the extent allowed by the Texas law, commercial use of the materials, including graphics and artwork, contained in http://www.DART.org is prohibited without the written permission of DART”
Washington DC Metro “WMATA maintains title, ownership, rights and interest in and to the Data”

No one disputes the that the information is free, just that you do not own the information and cannot resell it.

By: In reversal, MTA may work with web developers :: Second Ave. Sagas | A New York City Subway Blog

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:01:16 +0000

[...] and has generally made life tough for Schoenfeld. While you can read all about this conflict in my extensive post on the MTA’s struggles in an age of open information, the transit agency is not certain how it wants to proceed in a digital [...]

By: Making the case for open transit data :: Second Ave. Sagas | A New York City Subway Blog

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:40:12 +0000

[...] days ago, I delved in depth on the legal battle between the MTA and various software developers. The agency had taken issue with iPhone and other online apps that present MTA scheduling data, and [...]

By: Streetsblog New York City » The Case for Open MTA Data: Transparency, Savings, and Easier Riding

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:31:23 +0000

[...] resulting legal battle can turn ugly. Just ask Chris Schoenfeld, a developer and Metro-North rider who clashed repeatedly with MTA intellectual property lawyers over the terms for distributing his mo…, StationStops. A major point of contention: licensing fees and royalties. (After the MTA received a [...]

By: Anon

Anon — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:27:21 +0000

http://www.google.com/hostedne.....uOEOJcFFGw

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:25:15 +0000

….and, that’s another frivolous set of lawsuits. The MTA Law Department is clearly run by idiots.

“Likelihood of confusion” is the legal standard for trademarks. Specifically, this means, are people likely to be confused about *who produced* the product? In a photograph of the subway system, nobody is likely to be confused about who produced the photograph just because MTA symbols happen to be in the photograph. Utter, arrant nonsense.

Tell the commercial photographers to politely reply to the MTA that it has no case and to cease and desist from frivolous threatening letters.

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:21:19 +0000

Nope. You have to vigorously defend *trademarks*. You don’t have to do anything to defend copyrights *at all*, which is actually a problem, because they’re subject to “stealth lawsuits” from people who waited 20 years to sue.

By: Nathanael

Nathanael — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:20:09 +0000

That would be excellent. Knowing Walder, he will probably do it if someone alerts him to the problem.

Heck, we could even get an open GTFS feed.

By: Jim from NY

Jim from NY — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:13:41 +0000

That’s all very nice however it is not nearly as detailed as the reports issued by the Board of Transportation in the 1930’s and 40’s. In the 1930’s the BofT operated the IND subway and later the combined system after the 1940 takeover until the NYCTA was created in 1953. They published volumes of day to day financial information. For example one of the books in my collection covers a 6 month period and consists of over 1,000 pages of detailed financial data.

That is the kind of financial disclosure I would like to see from a public agency. From reading the MTA financials you cannot isolate the net earnings of the MTA licensing program and even if it is worthwhile.