Comments for eruci http://eruci.com I believe in nothing, among many other things. Unlike some who believe in something, and nothing else. Wed, 08 May 2013 04:44:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Comment on K2C 1N5 by Postal code lookups on websites - Overlawyered http://eruci.com/2013/04/23/k2c-1n5/#comment-61 Postal code lookups on websites - Overlawyered Wed, 08 May 2013 04:44:00 +0000 http://eruci.com/?p=383#comment-61 [...] “Canada Post — a failing, state-owned Crown Corporation — not only claims a copyright on the database of postal codes (a collection of facts, and not the sort of thing that usually attracts copyright). They also claim a trademark on the words ‘postal code,’ and have sent legal threats to websites that use the words factually, to describe actual postal codes.” (U.S. = zipcodes) [Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing; Eruci] [...]

]]> Comment on K2C 1N5 by maphewyk http://eruci.com/2013/04/23/k2c-1n5/#comment-55 maphewyk Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:43:41 +0000 http://eruci.com/?p=383#comment-55 Use “post code” instead. It won’t change sort order etc. like Zip will, and it’s in wide use already overseas (Aussies, Brits). — For shame Canada Post!

]]> Comment on K2C 1N5 by Kev http://eruci.com/2013/04/23/k2c-1n5/#comment-54 Kev Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:33:25 +0000 http://eruci.com/?p=383#comment-54 fyi,
IMO, this lawsuit is an absolute disgrace to open government in Canada.
My thanks to CIPPIC for defending Ervin pro-bono.

Lets hope our “open government” will update the Canada Post Corporation
Act and put a quick end to this absurd situation.
James McKinney wrote :
FYI, I finally asked Canada Post for a quote for postal code address data for use on http://represent.opennorth.ca/ For a single customer, the cost would be roughly $9,000. To use Canada Post’s data for all our API users, the cost would be roughly $50,000. As far as I know, the data I requested is the only data product that offers the ideal level of accuracy for matching postal codes to electoral districts at all levels of government. DMTI Spatial offers comparably accurate data for roughly $10,000.

]]> Comment on K2C 1N5 by Celia McInnis http://eruci.com/2013/04/23/k2c-1n5/#comment-52 Celia McInnis Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:42:44 +0000 http://eruci.com/?p=383#comment-52 Maybe you could use “postal-code” or “postal_code” and avoid problems with Canada Post? Hey, maybe you should trademark “postal-code” and “postal_code” yourself! :-)

]]> Comment on K2C 1N5 by Canada Post Suing Over the use of the Postal Code | AnyGeo - GIS, Maps, Mobile and Social Location Technology http://eruci.com/2013/04/23/k2c-1n5/#comment-51 Canada Post Suing Over the use of the Postal Code | AnyGeo - GIS, Maps, Mobile and Social Location Technology Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:35:32 +0000 http://eruci.com/?p=383#comment-51 [...] An interesting issue is unfolding in Canada and quite frankly its darned amazing! This coming from the owner of the website geocoder.ca who has been named as a defendant in a an ongoing legal action from Canada Post (aka. The Government of Canada) – personally, I find personally that in these times of hype and smoke blowing about Open Government and OpenData and related matters its downright disgusting! The story unfolds like this – the Government is laying claim to ownership and rights etc… to the term “Postal Code” and since this poor dude at geocoder.ca has an e-commerce website that serves up a map where users can search a region by Postal Code. In a blog post the “Defendant” added the following comments, “They even extended their claim to other websites I own, namely foodpages.ca, to seize any profits this website makes by having people type various location entities (address, intersection, city, postal code) to find a nearby restaurant. Perhaps in their ideal world, these profits belong to them because of the ‘postal code’ option.” He then goes on… “Seeing no end to this madness I am taking the following preemptive action. I am renaming the ‘postal code’ to ‘zip code’ on every website, blog, application or other publication I write.” For more on this matter check out the blog post which is humorously titled K2C 1N5 [...]

]]> Comment on K2C 1N5 by JW http://eruci.com/2013/04/23/k2c-1n5/#comment-50 JW Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:21:47 +0000 http://eruci.com/?p=383#comment-50 The term “zip code” was originally a trademark of the U.S. Postal Service, invented in the 1960′s as an acronym for “Zone Improvement Plan” — hardly an alternative to “postal code”, I shouldn’t think.

]]> Comment on K2C 1N5 by Janice Molina http://eruci.com/2013/04/23/k2c-1n5/#comment-49 Janice Molina Fri, 26 Apr 2013 06:51:37 +0000 http://eruci.com/?p=383#comment-49 Zip Codes didn’t come into use until 1963. Their inventor, Robert Aurand Moon, is known as the “ Father of ZIP Codes ” and was nicknamed “Mr. ZIP Code.” Another character also went by this name: the lovable cartoon ambassador, Mr. Zip or Mr. Zippy , who some think was largely responsible for the success of United States ZIP code compliance.

]]> Comment on K2C 1N5 by Canada Post and the War on Open Data, Innovation & Common Sense (continued, sadly) | eaves.ca http://eruci.com/2013/04/23/k2c-1n5/#comment-47 Canada Post and the War on Open Data, Innovation & Common Sense (continued, sadly) | eaves.ca Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:57:30 +0000 http://eruci.com/?p=383#comment-47 [...] can read more about this this, and see the legal documents on Ervin Ruci’s blog. William Wolfe-Wylie has also done a good job covering this story at [...]

]]> Comment on K2C 1N5 by Canada Post says they hold trademark on the words ‘postal code’ http://eruci.com/2013/04/23/k2c-1n5/#comment-46 Canada Post says they hold trademark on the words ‘postal code’ Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:01:32 +0000 http://eruci.com/?p=383#comment-46 [...] post responding to the updated statement of claim, Ervin Ruci, who runs the website in question, wrote about how he feels about Canada Post’s claims that the words “postal code” are now [...]

]]> Comment on K2C 1N5 by Steve http://eruci.com/2013/04/23/k2c-1n5/#comment-44 Steve Wed, 24 Apr 2013 23:45:19 +0000 http://eruci.com/?p=383#comment-44 Ridiculous , I’ll be selecting other shipping options now for sure. Placing 2 online orders right now in fact. Canada post just lost out on $40 worth of shipping from me. Others?

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