According to Larson, while protecting real estate data has been a hot topic for many years, no one organization representing a range of stakeholders has made data protection its core mandate before. He also notes that REDPLAN emulates successful models that enforce and prevent copyright and licensing infringement in other industries, such as the music, literary and software industries, and applies them for the first time to the real estate industry.
Larson stresses that REDPLAN is not a replacement for legal support, but rather a central body to protect the industry’s intellectual property rights and to serve as a deterrent to infringement.
Membership is open to all industry participants, from brokers, agents, and MLS organizations to data vendors and aggregators — at least those that are interested in playing by the rules.
And while it may take some time to see results, when it comes to the real estate industry, REDPLAN is just what the doctor ordered.
“When the whole industry can act as a class, it’s a lot more effective,” said Larson.
For more information, visit http://red-plan.org/.
