There has been a similar debate in Norway. According to law the public should have free access to databases that is founded in companies that are own by the public.
Companies with a monopoly or companies that have a political purpose and is founded by the public would also be covered by the law of free access to databases.
The company responsible for departure information in Oslo was very early with open APIs and giving access to developers. Only clausal was that you couldn't use it for commercial work. A couple of months ago they also removed this clausal so now it's free, even for commercial usage. More info here: http://bit.ly/iq1pbT (google translate)
Companies with a monopoly or companies that have a political purpose and is founded by the public would also be covered by the law of free access to databases.
The company responsible for departure information in Oslo was very early with open APIs and giving access to developers. Only clausal was that you couldn't use it for commercial work. A couple of months ago they also removed this clausal so now it's free, even for commercial usage. More info here: http://bit.ly/iq1pbT (google translate)