Legal threat closes Ernestmarples.com postcode feed

Source: The Guardian (UK) / Tom Watson, MP (UK) Blog / Ernestmarples.com

Making Royal Mail's PostZon free would have economic benefits that far outweigh the costs

London: 8 October 2009

Ernestmarples.com announced on the 2 October 2009 that their free UK postcode data feed had been disabled because of legal action by Royal Mail (UK). Ernestmarples.com said it did not have the resources to fight a legal battle so has turned off its feed.

Read Ernest Marples' Postcodes Blog about ‘What to do next?’

Tom Watson, MP (UK) on his blog writes on the topic.

“ErnestMarples.com was set up in July to provide a free service to convert postcodes to physical coordinates. Its founders believe that such a service is fundamental if we are to create an ecosystem for innovation on the web. On Friday 2nd October, ErnestMarples.com was forced to close down because of legal action by Royal Mail. As its services also powered other sites, this has had a knock-on effect meaning the likes of Jobcentreproplus.com, planningalerts.com and thestraightchoice.com are now no longer functional either.

The heavy handed approach by the Royal Mail to a growing sector of not-for-profit citizen focused websites is not new but still deeply regrettable. As a minister, I initiated a conversation that I hoped would lead to Royal Mail taking a more flexible approach with the web community who seek to use geo-spatial co-ordinates to develop new and innovative services that help the public in their daily lives.

I take the position that the postcode file and the data set of physical co-ordinates that go with it are a national asset that should be freely available to any UK citizen. I understand, though, that in the short term the entrepreneurs in your organisation have monetised their monopoly supply of the file to generate income of about £11 million a year. We live in tough economic times. I’m a realist. But I do hope that you can apply your considerable talents to find an amicable solution that allows the profit making direct-mail industry to pay a fair fee for a postcode database license, whilst allowing the non-profit sector to flourish and innovate. Do this, and you might even stimulate a market niche of profit making internet related companies that can sustain Royal Mail in the digital age.

I intend to raise this matter with ministers in Parliament next week and look forward to hearing from you. “

  • Charles Arthur Technology Editor of the Guardian Newspaper has published an article about the benefits of free access to postcode data (7 October 2009) entitled: “Who would really benefit if postcode data were free? (Making Royal Mail's PostZon free would have economic benefits that far outweigh the costs)”. In an excerpt from the article, the author comments:

“Royal Mail claimed that Richard Pope and Harry Metcalfe, the duo behind the site, had caused it "loss". As the PostZon database being accessed via ernestmarples.com – named after the man who introduced postcodes to the UK – costs about £4,000 a year to license, could it be right? Some simple calculations show that in fact everyone else, including the government that owns Royal Mail, and perhaps even Royal Mail itself, would benefit from the data being free.”

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