Royal Mail destroying public sector online initiatives

Interview with Harry Metcalfe of http://www.ernestmarples.com

This is a service which supplied postcode information that powered a number of free services. Ones helping people find local jobs and hospitals as well as nearby planning applications have been forced to close due to Royal Mail legal action.

Jim Killock, head of the Open Rights Group said:

"It is easy to see that large numbers of small business ideas and not for profit services are being blocked by these licence fees. It is in effect a tax on innovation."

http://ernestmarples.com/blog/

Web activists protest as Royal Mail threatens over postcode lookup service
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/oct/05/ernest-marples-royal-mail-po...

Costing ernestmarples (and free data) vs paid-for
http://www.freeourdata.org.uk/blog/2009/10/costing-ernestmarples-and-free-dat...

Services closed

· PlanningAlerts.com http://www.planningalerts.com/
· Jobcentre Pro Plus http://jobcentreproplus.com/
· The Straight Choice http://www.thestraightchoice.org/

How to contact your MP http://www.theyworkforyou.com/

@tom_watson 's Early Day Motion 2000 http://bit.ly/4onud7

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• postcode
• mail
• innovation
• government
• health
• planning
• law
• open source
• jobs