A bid to make BSI docs more widely available.

[Ed Sirett]

The other day it occurred to me that in the semi-legal world of ebay someone would sooner or later be putting out PDFs of BSI publications.

Lo and behold there is an outfit that will send you a PDF for £5 or will print and post it to you for £15.

Sooner or later they may be in trouble.

Because I think this is the right move for gas safety and other construction related matters. I intend to purchase a few of these (starting with BS5440 - the standard for flues to domestic gas appliances below 70kW) I will then put them on my web site. This seems a more open way than happens at present. Gas colleges and test centres have these 'Bibles' chained to the desks! And with a retail price of £140 it's not surprising.

If ordinary people can read for themselves what the rights and wrongs of a matter this has got to be better than hearing snippets from BG and CORGI 'priests'.

I trust this may be a useful resource (see the thread BG going OTT...)

[Guy King]

The message from Ed Sirett contains these words:

Quite right too. They're /our/ rules.

I know ignorance of the law is no defence, but charging for finding out what the law is smacks of Gilliam's Brazil.

[Steve Walker]

I am Sam Lowry, AICMFP

[Lobster]

Good man - but won't you be making yourself vulnerable to legal action from BSI? I don't know what arrangement this other outfit may or may not already have with them regarding copyright?

David

[Jason]

If they are selling the standards for 5 and 10 quid a pop, then they will certainly not have any arrangement.

-- Jason

[John Rumm]

Don't sound that semi-legal to me ;-)

Somewhere on a P2P network may be a little "safer" I would have thought...

Quite agree! If they are going to be cited in law as being mandatory then they ought to be free.

Wonder if the can do the CD version of BS7671, now that would be handy!

You heretic! ;-)

[Dave Fawthrop]

|The other day it occurred to me that in the semi-legal world of ebay |someone would sooner or later be putting out PDFs of BSI publications.

Bradford Central Library has paper copies of BSI pubs on the Reference shelves. They also have copying machines. Other Central libraries may do the same.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I've long held the view that Acts and SI's must not be allowed to refer to documents which are not in the public domain (free download, or paper copies for no more than the printing cost). I believe this is actually the law in some US states. I wonder if the EU could be persuaded to impose this -- it must be good for something? ;-)

The wiring regs did used to be available quite cheaply (before they were a BS). However, their current cost seems to mean most electricians don't even have copies any more.

[nightjar]

My local library has many BSI publications available, either immediately or on order from the central library. But they do not allow people to take them out of a restricted area, in order that they cannot be copied. I remember, BSI publications printed on red paper to prevent photocopying.

Colin Bignell

[Guy King]

The message from "Steve Walker" contains these words:

Some day I'm going to make up a teeshirt with him on it.

[nightjar]

Probably sooner, rather than later. BSI take breaches of their copyright very seriously. Producing a new or revised Standard is hugely expensive and they are very protective of their income sources.

That will be a breach of the BSI copyright and, as I have already mentioned, is likely to attract the attention of their legal department. Buying an illegal copy to produce your copy from does not remove the original copyright owner's rights.

Is that the BSI member or non-member price? I don't have the catalogue to hand. In most cases, members pay half the non-member prices so membership usually more than pays for itself for any but the most casual user.

You can do that down my local Public Library.

Colin Bignell

[Owain]

nightjar "Dave Fawthrop" wrote

Someone with very fast shorthand, a photographic memory, or a concealed digital camera, might still be able to make some use of the facility. I find a 2Mp digital camera gives acceptably legible results for "photo copying" and is a lot quicker than scanning.

Red/black colourblindness and the Disability Discrimination Act should get round that one :-)

Owain

[Christian McArdle]

Especially as the building regulations are increasingly referring to ever more expensive BS and other non-free sources. For example, all the joist span tables have been removed from Part A and you now need to purchase the tables separately for your average yearly salary.

Really, BSI must do something about this. Their only business plan seems to be selling to central libraries and colleges. When members of the public want something, they don't give a toss.

Christian.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I totally agree. It's what happens when you allow private profit making companies to get involved in regulation, etc. All state backed regulations should be available - in electronic form - for free, or at a nominal cost in hard copy, like the Highway Code.

[Tony Bryer]

and businesses. If you are a member (not that expensive) you then get a 50% discount.

[Christian McArdle]

Cool. So businesses pay even less than the public. I think that they have a particular desire to deny access to the public, really.

I think that there should be a moratorium on the government passing regulations that depend on BS unless they also put into place a funding mechanism that allows free online access.

Christian.

[fred]

In article , Ed Sirett writes

A safer bet may be to anonymously post copies to a suitable binary newsgroup with occasional reminders here that they have been known to appear in such a place occasionally.

[no_spam_please]

All the BSI standards are already recorded on CD by a company on behalf of the BSI. I'll ask my relation who works for them if a CD is available.

[Guy King]

The message from fred contains these words:

alt.binaries.pictures.gas-regs.spreadwide?

[invlaid]

It also seems perverse that the Health & Safety Exec charge for many of their documents.

If the government really wanted to promote safety they would make these and BSI documents available free rather than creating expensive schemes like Part P. Robert