I agree with the sentiment that tax funded data should be free. But in practice it is more complicated. American Government data seems to either be free and o

I agree with the sentiment that tax funded data should be free. But in practice it is more complicated. American Government data seems to either be free and open access or completely restricted for security reasons. In the EU publicly funded projects tend to require payment but have better data availability. This is particularly obvious with remote sensing satellites where the NASA/USGS budget for public-good projects is severely restricted. Payment at the right price is not always a bad thing if it makes projects viable. Especially when they wouldn't be viable without asking for payment from end users.