SpotCrime.com is a Baltimore-based company founded in October 2007 and privately owned by ReportSee, Inc. Its' purpose is to provide nationwide crime information about arrests, arsons, assaults, burglaries, robberies, shootings, thefts and vandalism. SpotCrime generally maps data for any police agency which supplies open data access to crime data. Data mapped by SpotCrime is mainly sourced from police departments and news reports. SpotCrime also provides data on missing persons and a crime tip application, CrimeTip.us. The service advocates for open, equal, and fair access to public crime data. The website originated as a part of the Emerging Technology Center (ETC) in Baltimore. It was included in a research paper funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared by SCRA titled 'Survey and Evaluation of Online Crime Mapping'. Notably, the service also created and published the SpotCrime Open Crime Standard (SOCS) in March 2014. Availability in other applications SpotCrime.com powers a 'sister' site - MyLocalCrime.com, and a full-screen version of SpotCrime - SpotCrime.info. MyLocalCrime displays the same data as SpotCrime, only in a different format. SpotCrime.info is also viewable on a mobile browser. ReportSee, Inc. (SpotCrime) is also in charge of UCrime.com, a University crime mapping website. SpotCrime has created apps for iGoogle Gadget, iPhone in 2009, Android, Layar in 2010 and DirecTV. The service actively maintains SpotCrime apps for iPhone, Android, and as an Amazon Alexa skill, as well as MyLocalCrime apps for iPhone and Android. Advocacy work for open crime data SpotCrime advocates for open, equal, and fair access to crime data for the public and press at the jurisdictional level. Open crime data is inaccessible to the public and press in many US cities. The service relies on public record laws to access the crime data for its website and encourages all police agencies to make their data available to the public openly without restrictions. Lawsuit On April 9, 2010, Public Engines, Inc. (CrimeReports.com) filed a lawsuit against ReportSee, Inc. (SpotCrime) for violating the Terms of Use on the CrimeReports website. SpotCrime's Role In Dispute Of Private Outsourcing Of Public Data According to the Poynter Institute, SpotCrime's founder, Colin Drane, was sued by Public Engines, a competitor. Public Engine's CEO acknowledges that the data he uses is public, but contends that it's up to the police agencies to make the data public. Poynter also acknowledges that some police agencies, who have already partnered with other crime-mapping sites,