[opendtv] Re: The Weather and do these people have NO shame?
- From: "Dale Kelly" <dalekelly@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 12:00:54 -0700
Thanks for the new detailed info. Actually, you and I mostly agree.
One mistake in replying to your post, was my rambling on to also
include arguments related to other postings.
I quite often watch TWC, but without Doppler radar overlays
and satellite info, they wouldn't have the current viable commercially
sponsored product.
Same goes for Accuweather. They do develop content and
also add significant value thru packaging and by providing good
user tools. However, IMO, without the government data they don't
have a viable product.
I'm very familiar with the predatory nature of Accuweather. They
built profitable subscription services based upon and the free data
supplied by other. They now wish to eliminate competition from that
same free source; a tactic learned from the cable industry perhaps?
You are correct, we should have a choice.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kon Wilms" <kon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 11:04 AM
Subject: [opendtv] Re: The Weather and do these people have NO shame?
> On Wed, 2005-04-27 at 10:20 -0700, Dale Kelly wrote:
>> Do you actually believe that services such as Accuweather and TWC
>> could provide viable product lacking the weather data supplied by
>> the several government agencies and derived from their multibillion
>> dollar network of sensors, including the many satellites with varying
>> capabilities? If someone must pay for this information, lets begin with
>> Accuweather and TWC.
>
> Did you bother to read my reply, or should I copy/paste it again? I
> don't support what they are doing, but people like you are foaming at
> the mouth saying they do nothing but repackage NWS data and have no
> other source of data when in fact that is untrue.
>
> And no, if we don't have to pay for it, then Accuweather shouldn't have
> to pay for it either. They can charge whatever they want - doesn't mean
> I *have* to use it. Its what we call a free market, remember? However,
> if I am paying for NWS data as a taxpayer, then I fully expect to get
> it, and commercial interests attempting to close this so they can
> greedily extract more money from me shouldn't be allowed to do so.
>
> Here's a list I pulled from opensecrets.org, showing soft money
> contributions from Accuweather to the senator pushing this bill (some
> are not relevant). Must be nice to get between $250 and $2000 every
> couple of months for over 5 years. This makes me sick. I wonder if the
> last one on the list ('homemaker') is any relation!
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, A ROSS
> WORCESTER,PA 19490
> ALLAN A MYERS
> 2/8/1999
> $1,000
> Santorum, Rick
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, BARRY LEE DR
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> ACCU WEATHER
> 8/31/2004
> $250
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, BARRY LEE MRS
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> ACCU WEATHER
> 8/31/2004
> $250
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, CHARLES J
> PITTSBURGH,PA 15241
> RETIRED
> 8/12/1999
> $200
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, JOEL
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> 6/30/2000
> ($300)
> Santorum, Rick
>
> MYERS, JOEL N
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> ACCU WEATHER
> 9/10/1999
> $1,000
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, JOEL N
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> ACCU WEATHER
> 8/18/1999
> $250
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, JOEL N
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> ACCU WEATHER
> 9/10/1999
> ($700)
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, JOEL N DR
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> ACCU WEATHER
> 12/31/2003
> $1,750
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, JOEL N DR
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> ACCU WEATHER
> 5/16/2000
> $1,000
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, JOEL N DR
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> ACCU WEATHER
> 6/7/2000
> $300
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, JOEL N DR
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> ACCU WEATHER
> 10/9/2003
> $250
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, JOEL N DR
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> ACCU WEATHER
> 12/31/2003
> $250
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, JOSEPH
> PHILADELPHIA,PA 19106
> 7/26/2000
> $250
>
> Santorum, Rick
> MYERS, PEGGY
> STATE COLLEGE,PA 16801
> HOMEMAKER
> 9/10/1999
> $700
>
>
>> Also, in this discussion, we've failed to identify the major client and
>> a major justification for the US government's investment in it's vast
>> world wide weather gathering capability. This information is mission
>> *critical* to the military.
>
> The military isn't a client, it is a partner. The Defense Meteorological
> Satellite Program's satellites merged into NOAA operations in 1998.
>
> But you fail to mention the fact that there are NWS services offered
> over satellite for which the military has little interest (like EMWIN).
> Also, I hope you don't honestly believe that the military relies on
> 10ft/pixel satellite imaging for mission critical operations. They have
> separate networks for that, with *no* civilian access.
>
> People like Accuweather repackage and beautify feeds like EMWIN. You may
> have software to parse 3000 text files in a directory, or you may want
> to hit a website with a bitmap summarizing those 3000 text files.
>
>> A similar discussion could be about private use of the GPS
>> satellite system, which is also critical military hardware and is widely
>> commercialized. Should a government licensing fee be charged for
>> it's commercial use? Perhaps that might be more profitable than
>> auctioning our devaluing broadcast spectrum.
>
> The military uses their own frequencies on the Navstar satellites. In
> the event of some sort of threat the civilian frequencies can be
> disabled. So this one isn't as cut and dry as a 'everyone gets the same
> data, lets charge for it' scenario.
>
> Cheers
> Kon
>
>
>
>
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