Re: LOD Data Sets, Licensing, and AWS

Alan Ruttenberg wrote:
> Kingsley,
>
> Encouraging attribution by URI is a bad idea because it encourages 
> people or organizations to create URIs where perfectly good ones 
> exist, solely so that they can get their "attribution". Were this no 
> cost, I wouldn't mind. But having more than one URI for a resource 
> causes real trouble for data integration.
Let's try to look at this matter slightly differently, putting some the 
labels in this conversation to one side, for a second.

Scenario:

I am the New York Time or Times of London, I've decided to expose my 
treasure troves to the Web (highly quality data assembled since day one 
of our existence) in line with the guidelines intrinsic to the Linked 
Data meme. But, I am wary of the fact that anyone can some along to my 
newly unveiled Linked Data space, grab my data, and reconstitute in a 
new Linked Data Space on the Web without any reference back to me.
>
> Incidentally, there is a legal difference between attribution and 
> citation. Virtually all of academic credit is based on citation, not 
> attribution.
Hence, my request to put the labels aside (above). It might be that what 
I am seeking via HTTP URIs is a Citation/Attribution hybrid (like 
Reference & Access duality inherent to HTTP URIs re. Linked Data meme) 
that acknowledges "data sources" via their originating URIs thereby 
bringing citation and attribution together coherently.

Ultimately owners of high quality databases have to realize the 
following re. their data and publication on the Web:

1. Separation of "value" from "medium of value exchange";
2. HTTP URIs are effective mediums of value exchange on the Web.


The NYT, London Times, and others of this ilk, are more likely to 
contribute their quality data to the LOD cloud if they know there is a 
vehicle (e.g., a license scheme) that ensures their HTTP URIs are 
protected i.e., always accessible to user agents at the data 
representation (HTML, XML, N3, RDF/XML, Turtle etc..) level; thereby 
ensuring citation and attribution requirements are honored.
> Attribution is the kind of thing one gives as the result of a license requirement in exchange for permission to copy. In the academic world for journal articles this doesn't come into play at all, since there is no copying (in the usual case). Instead people cite articles because the norms of their community demand it.
Yes, and the HTTP URI ultimately delivers the kind mechanism I believe 
most traditional media companies seek (as stated above). They ultimately 
want people to use their data with low cost citation and attribution 
intrinsic to the medium of value exchange.

btw - how are you dealing with this matter re. the nuerocommons.org 
linked data space? How do you ensure your valuable work is fully 
credited as it bubbles up the value chain?



>
> -Alan


-- 


Regards,

Kingsley Idehen	      Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
President & CEO 
OpenLink Software     Web: http://www.openlinksw.com

Received on Wednesday, 24 June 2009 20:57:11 UTC