[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 224 (Monday, November 22, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 67948]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-25833]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Antitrust Division


Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and 
Production Act of 1993--Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.

    Notice is hereby given that, on September 15, 2004, pursuant to 
section 6(a) of the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 
1993, 15 U.S.C. 4301 et seq. (``the Act''), Open Geospatial Consortium, 
Inc. (``OGC'') has filed written notifications simultaneously with the 
Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission disclosing (1) The 
name and principal place of business of the standards development 
organization and (2) the nature and scope of its standards development 
activities. The notifications were filed for the purpose of invoking 
the Act's provisions limiting the recovery of antitrust plaintiffs to 
actual damages under specified circumstances.
    Pursuant to section 6(b) of the Act, the name and principal place 
of business of the standards development organization is: Open 
Geospatial Consortium, Inc., Wayland, MA. The nature and scope of OGC's 
standards development activities are: (1) To facilitate a formal, 
member-driven, consensus process to promote the development and use of 
advanced open systems standards and techniques for the definition and 
implementation of the National and Global Information Infrastructures, 
with an initial emphasis on the geosciences and related imaging and 
distributed multimedia technologies; (2) to enable interoperability of 
spatial components and services from different vendors by engaging in 
outreach, education, recruitment, and adoption activities focused on 
helping enterprises of all kinds understand that enterprise data can be 
leveraged with spatial capabilities to extend the use of corporate 
information throughout the enterprise; (3) to ensure that standards 
adopted by OGC become widely used globally; (4) to operate subsidiaries 
in accordance with the strategic direction of OGC, including 
subsidiaries that represent regionally-based OGC members in regional 
membership organizations and associations with a similar vision and 
mission to that of OGC, including local, sub-national and national 
agencies and associations of private persons and organizations; (5) to 
provide a regional and global industry forum to promote co-operative 
business development initiatives related to distributed geoprocessing; 
(6) to provide government and other policymaking bodies with neutral, 
third party reports and analyses explaining how interoperatibility, as 
enabled by OGC's work, can improve government and other enterprise 
operations and stimulate market development, adjusting to meet regional 
needs and circumstances; (7) to liaise and cooperate with other 
standards development and setting organizations and bodies world-wide 
that operate with missions and strategic directions similar to those of 
OGC, including organizations that address worldwide research 
requirements for interoperable geospatial technologies and geographic 
data, including activities where there is high social value associated 
with open networks providing access to information services, such as 
disaster preparedness and response, e-Government, sustainable 
development, research, education, and citizen engagement; and (8) to 
promote and to obtain funding to meet the need for education, 
promotion, and research related to interoperable geospatial 
technologies and data in the foregoing areas. OGC may also develop and 
maintain standards and specifications in the same areas, perform 
certification of technology compliant with such standards and 
specification; and perform other related research and experimentation 
in, and implementation of, open systems standards and technology.

Dorothy B. Fountain,
Deputy Director of Operations, Antitrust Division.
[FR Doc. 04-25833 Filed 11-19-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-11-M