It seems to me that a quasi-public service, such as the folks running train service in and out of New York City (MTA), would applaud wider distribution and availability of their schedules. Especially considering how un-mobile-friendly their current web site is, they were practically begging for someone to make it better. And someone did with a popular iPhone app. How did they respond? With a claim that their schedules are copyrighted and the app developer infringed on that copyright — what!??? Even if they are correct from a legal/technical standpoint what does this say about their management, and their concern for providing quality service?
MTA DEMANDS LICENSING AGREEMENT FROM IPHONE APP DEVELOPERS USING SUBWAY MAPS
The MTA has a message for iPhone application developers: Thumbs off those train schedules!..Agency marketing and legal bigs are going after computer programmers who use schedule information to make the wildly-popular iPhone applications that show when Metro-North and LIRR trains arrive and depart.
StationStops for iPhone Application Homepage | StationStops
StationStops is an iPhone Application which allows to riders check the regular schedule for trains coming into and out of Grand Central, with or without an internet connection.
Comments / ONE COMMENT
RodeWorks » Blog Archive » MTA comes to its senses and releases schedule data to developers on Jan 19 10 at 5:24 am[...] has taken a different tack. The New York Mass Transit Authority at one point maintained that transit schedules were copyrighted — nice to see they’ve come to a more reasonable attitude. Whatever their misgivings, [...]
ADD YOUR COMMENT
Comments are moderated.
Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
New articles are normally posted on Mondays and Wednesdays. Subscribe to the RSS feed or the email update to keep current on the latest posts.
Past listings from 2004 to the present
Need a home (or better home) for your website? I highly recommend HostRocket -- they are the best!
