To pay or not to pay

Free access and paid access are both common models used for geographic data access and sharing. The free access model advocates free-of-charge access to geographic data for all users, specifically public-sector information (PSI). Although some organisations diff erentiate between geographic data users when granting access, only 14% of organisations diff erentiate between user groups. These organisations will make data freely available to government, academic and research users only, whereas private users such as consulting firms and telecommunication firms are made to pay for datasets.The reasoning is that other public institutions also need data they produce. This group favours free, unrestricted geographic data access. Moreover, they assume their activities are of national interest since they are mandated by law, so therefore they should obtain data for free. One difference which is often disregarded is the purpose for which the data is used.