Open Knowledge Foundation Blog
blog.okfn.org · Company blog · on HN since 2010
The Open Knowledge Foundation blog covers open data, open licensing, public domain, and projects like CKAN and Frictionless Data.
What HN saysHN commenters link it in debates over open data access, the public domain and licensing, and cite its leadership changes and Open Data Day funding.
30HN people shared it
9linked it in comments
23stories submitted
147story points
11 months agolast shared
2010people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Why Share-Alike Licenses are Open but Non-Commercial Ones Aren’t2 people · 2 points · first shared 2010 · discussion on HN
- 2Which works enter the public domain in 2011?2 people · 1 points · first shared 2011 · discussion on HN
- 3Catherine stihler to leave open knowledge foundation to lead creative commons2 people · first shared 2020
- 4Announcing Recline.JS: a Javascript library to build data apps in browser1 people · 69 points · first shared 2012 · 7 comments on HN
- 5AnnotateIt and Annotator: a new mode of communication on the web1 people · 27 points · first shared 2012 · 14 comments on HN
- 6CKAN v1.0 Released1 people · 9 points · first shared 2010 · 3 comments on HN
- 7From CMS to DMS: C is for Content, D is for Data1 people · 8 points · first shared 2012 · discussion on HN
- 8V1.0 of Frictionless Data Specs enable lightweight data transport and reuse1 people · 5 points · first shared 2017 · discussion on HN
- 9Release of DataCatalogs.org to map open data around the world1 people · 3 points · first shared 2011 · discussion on HN
- 10Announcing the Frictionless Data Tool Fund:$5K Grants to Build Open Source Tools1 people · 3 points · first shared 2019 · discussion on HN
- 11EU law the "right to be forgotten" vs. open data1 people · 3 points · first shared 2014 · discussion on HN
- 12Solving the Internet Monopolies Problem – Facebook, Google Et Al1 people · 2 points · first shared 2018 · discussion on HN
- 13Sharing matters to the successful 21st century researcher1 people · 2 points · first shared 2017 · discussion on HN
- 14Defining open data - the clear explanation you've all been waiting for1 people · 2 points · first shared 2013 · discussion on HN
- 15New research project to map the impact of open budget data1 people · 2 points · first shared 2015 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
robinhouston · 2024-08-23
This is a long-running battle. Those with long memories may remember the skirmish 15 years ago, when a small group of developer-activists set up a website that allowed free access to postcode data (ernestmarples.com, named after the inventor of the modern British postcode system).
Needless to say, it was rapidly shut down following threats of legal action by Royal Mail.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/oct/05/ernest-marples-roya…
https://blog.okfn.org/2009/10/05/ernest-marples-uk-postcode-site-has-b…
cmccabe · 2013-06-16
Obama, together with the Fed, pulled the US back from the brink of financial disaster in 2008. If the banks and AIG hadn't been bailed out, we'd be in a great depression now. Luckily we learned something since 1930 (although people like you didn't, apparently).
Obama pulled us out of Iraq and Afghanistan more or less on schedule. And he kept us from getting sucked into Libya and Syria, except for extremely minor aid like the 2011 no-fly zone, and arming the rebels in Syria.
Obama has used executive orders to promote policies like reducing allowed federal standards for carcinogens, promoting open data standards, and much else. http://blog.okfn.org/2013/05/10/government-data-open-and-machine-reada…
dhosek · 2025-12-02
The article has a link to
https://blog.okfn.org/2012/10/08/do-bad-things-happen-when-works-enter… (Do Bad things happen when works enter the public domain?)
There are answer is no, but they’re ignoring the fact that when works enter the public domain they will invariably spawn horror movies “based” on the work. Pooh: Blood and Honey is the warning sign we all ignored to our detriment and now we’ll all have to watch the slasher version of T. S. Eliot’s “Ash Wednesday” in 2026.
I hope you’re happy.
alyma · 2024-07-11
GitHub was just the logical progression from okfn:
https://blog.okfn.org/2022/03/03/microsoft-to-support-open-data-day-20…
Today, we are pleased to announce that Microsoft will once again be supporting Open Data Day by providing mini-grants to organisations to help them run events, the call will launch on Open Data Day 2022.
They also supported "Open Data Day 2021". Sounds like a nice trojan horse to influence EU legislation through purported activists.
stephenabbott · 2020-09-07
Catherine Stihler was the CEO of the Open Knowledge Foundation from February 2019 to August 2020. Check out the Wikidata or Wikipedia pages for OKF:
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q233015
Here is the blogpost announcing how Ms Stihler left OKF to lead Creative Commons: https://blog.okfn.org/2020/07/09/catherine-stihler-to-leave-open-knowl…
volt4ire · 2019-04-04
Sadly this "platform to open source factchecking" is not itself open source, as the site's source code is not available and the user content license restricts commercial use (see point 3 https://sourcedfact.com/terms_of_service and https://blog.okfn.org/2010/06/24/why-share-alike-licenses-are-open-but…
frabcus · 2013-01-22
There are other business models. Westlaw / Lexis Nexus's customers and competitors who do not have this curated information, can get together (via an intermediary perhaps) to curate them better.
See for example this open law data project in the UK, run by the National Archives:
http://blog.okfn.org/2012/10/04/worlds-first-real-commercial-open-data…
follower · 2011-01-02
In addition to the (currently down) http://www.publicdomainworks.net/stats/year/2011 link provided by 2mur this blog entry also talks about what entered the public domain this year: http://blog.okfn.org/2010/10/18/which-works-enter-the-public-domain-in…
Also, my interpretation of the original post is that it's not a mere lamentation but also a reminder to question the current state of copyright and public domain legislation. Who benefits? Who loses? To what degree? And why? And it does so with concrete examples.
Pick-A-Hill2019 · 2020-08-27
[Edit to Add: I found it joined 2019, left recently. Leaving comment here. Will delete once posted. Link announcing here departure: https://blog.okfn.org/2020/07/09/catherine-stihler-to-leave-open-knowl… ]
Ok, who can help me out here. A Ms Catherine Stihler is listed as CEO of Open Knowledge Foundation [1] [2] but I can't find any mention of her on the OKFN 'Peoples Page' and using their UK registered company number of 05133759 Companies House can't spot any mention of the name [3] nor date of appointment to role of CEO. If someone could find out when they joined, would be interested to see where I missed it in the Companies House filings.
To be clear: I Was/Am curious about the post and the org behind it so I 'Ducked' as the name Catherine Stihler showed up in links 1 & 2.
[1] https://www.nps.edu/web/nsa/-/ceo-of-open-knowledge-foundation-catheri…
[2] https://blog.okfn.org/2020/03/13/open-knowledge-ai-and-algorithms/
[3] https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/05133759