[comp.windows.x] wxmap access denied?

gt1111a@prism.gatech.EDU (Vincent Fox) (03/31/91)

Just a month or so ago, a friend of mine showed me this nifty program
he'd gotten over the net. It talked to uiuc.edu, which was hooked up to
airport meterological sites. You could get the conditions within a 1/2 hour,
and a map complete with radar updated every hour. I thought this was the
most amazing thing I'd ever seen. It sure impressed people who I was demoing
our network to (trying to increase user base).

Now all I get is:
!!! Server failed: Data restricted to uiuc.edu only per Alden/Zephyr licensing,
sorry.

Anyone know what the story is behind this?
-- 
Vincent Fox (That's Mr. Bucko to you)|"Fleshy-headed mutant, are you friendly?"
Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA             |"No way, eh! Radiation has made me an
SR-71: gt1111a@prism.gatech.edu      | enemy of civilization."
Pony Express:...!gatech!prism!gt1111a|             - Bob & Doug in Strange Brew

carroll@cs.uiuc.edu (Alan M. Carroll) (04/01/91)

In article <25268@hydra.gatech.EDU>, gt1111a@prism.gatech.EDU (Vincent Fox) writes:
> [wxmap description, a most execellent program for X]
> 
> Now all I get is:
> !!! Server failed: Data restricted to uiuc.edu only per Alden/Zephyr licensing,
> sorry.

The data that wxmap uses for display is not free, UIUC pays real money
for it. I would assume that the U of Ill. pays only for a UIUC site
license, and that allowing the data to flow off campus is illegal.

Alternatively, it's possible that the off campus useage became so
large that it was bogging the machines (which are already slow and
heavily used, especially with it getting to be the end of semester).

P.S. I run wxmap as my X window background, updated every half hour.
It is cool beyond belief. It's got radar, fronts, wind, temperature,
isotherms, storm and tornado watches, in glorious color.

-- 
Alan M. Carroll                "I hate shopping with the reality-impaired"
Epoch Development Team                 - Susan
CS Grad / U of Ill @ Urbana    ...{ucbvax,pur-ee,convex}!cs.uiuc.edu!carroll

bob@MorningStar.Com (Bob Sutterfield) (04/01/91)

In article <25268@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt1111a@prism.gatech.EDU (Vincent Fox) writes:
   ...Now all I get is:
   !!! Server failed: Data restricted to uiuc.edu only per Alden/Zephyr licensing, sorry.

   Anyone know what the story is behind this?

Just like the error message said, licensing issues constrain them to
restrict distribution of the information displayed by wxmap.  Bummer.
Here's what the author said about it:

 Date:         Thu, 28 Mar 91 09:57:03 CST
 Reply-To:     WXMAP-L@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU
 Sender:       Discussions about the wxmap program <WXMAP-L@UIUCVMD>
 Comments:     Warning -- original Sender: tag was kline@GARCON.CSO.UIUC.EDU
 From:         Charley Kline <c-kline@UIUC.EDU>
 Subject:      sorry, folks.
 
 I just got off the phone with Lenny Giuliano at Alden/Zephyr. The
 University of Illinois cannot release any data obtained from Alden to
 the Internet without paying an additional $150/month licensing fee. I
 haven't tried this out on my manager yet, but I can tell you what the
 answer will be.
 
 So, it's been great while it lasted, thanks a lot for all your great
 ideas, most of them made it into patchlevel 1.11, which was to go out
 today (I'll still stick it out there, for what it's worth.
 
 The server is out there, as well, on uxc.cso.uiuc.edu, as
 pub/wxserver.tar.Z. All it takes is a system with a serial line and a
 few cycles left over, and an Alden DD+ downlink, and you all can have
 fun with wxmap again.
 
 I'll continue work on this, of course, since it's a U of I network
 service, and continue to make all my code available for anonymous
 FTP.
 
 IF there is some major reinterpretation of the contract with
 Alden/Zephyr, things may be turned back on, and some discussions with
 UNIDATA led me to believe that this may happen for University sites,
 but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
 
 Thank you all again.