Obama-Biden Chooses Creative Commons License

An interesting announcement came across the Creative Commons Identica account this morning.

Obama / Biden choose Creative Commons’ most permissive license for Change.gov: http://ping.fm/H0ACV … please pass it along!

Although I did indeed pass it along on Identi.ca, and Twitter, I thought the news was much bigger than a quick update.

Taking their pledge of “Open Government” to the next level, it seems that the Obama-Biden administration set the copyright of Change.gov to the most open version of the Creative Commons license.

[iframe https://www.iterasi.net/embedded/?sqrlitid=0opbiCL_dkalY1yqpvxkIg 400px 30000px]

This is pretty significant because it shows that, at least superficially, the administration is dedicated to opening the official documentation and allowing more direct interaction with the government. It allows me, as a blogger, to pull text and imagery straight from their website without fear of copyright infringement or reprisal- a far cry from the previous administration’s hamfisted information lockdown ideals.

Of course, I’m mentioned previously time will tell how this plays out during the actual presidency, with actual government documents. Back-stage pictures and transition websites are one thing, day to day governmental life is another.

Still, like so many signs, it gives me hope that our government can make indeed make a change back towards “For the people, by the people.”

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