Summary
Public sector information (PSI) such as weather and traffic data is a key raw material for companies looking to provide value added information service and products. In the United States its commercial re-use is made easy thanks to a clear and simple legal framework based on the Freedom of Information Act and an absence of government copyright. This contrasts with the situation in the European Union (EU) where efforts by companies to provide information products and services based on PSI are complicated by the relatively restrictive and generally divergent rules applied by European authorities to its re-use. In response to this, and in an effort to promote the availability of such products and services, the European Commission proposed a Directive on the re-use of public sector information.