[aprssig] National Weather Services Duties Act (S. 786 )

[rw at w7rsw.com]

I'd like to bring attention to a Senate Bill currently in committee that 
will alter and if enacted, eliminate private citizen access to the 
National Weather Service (NWS) data while giving exclusive access to 
For-Profit entities such as AccuWeather and other commercial entities.

This bill, if enacted will affect and prohibit access to NWS data 
products to marine, aviation and most importantly to the APRS community, 
the ability to access NWS data used by a large number of Hams and other 
weather enthusiasts. Should this Senate Bill 786 be enacted, anyone 
wishing to gather information that has been historically been available 
  to citizens free of charge, (after all, WE have paid for it!) will 
only be available from For-Profit organizations for a fee.

Below are links to the text of the bill and websites available to help 
those who wish to express their views and concerns concerning this bill.

Thanks for reading this.

Randy Whitney, W7RSW
T2NRTHWST http://northwest.aprs2.net

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:s786:

https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=123