The lack of open data is a nuisance and killer for many businesses in the EU and elsewhere, where in many cases the state competes with private companies in the market for basic information. Base data, including telephone listings, maps, and even tide information have been traditionally the reserve of governments.

This situation is beginning to clash with the requirements of Web2.0 companies who would like to move up the chain but are shackled with license fees and restrictions. Sugar daddies currently hide this from most users (e.g., Google maps) but it continues to be an issue for smaller businesses and open source projects. The situation is very different in the U.S. where the federal government does not retain copyright on its works. A few projects, such as the Wikimedia Foundation and openstreetmap, are working to raise the bar of available basic knowledge. These will be discussed with an eye to end-use by businesses.