Open Access to USGS DEM data... Myth Or Reality?

I've had this article on the back burner for awhile but finally dusted it off and finished it up. For some time I've been wanting to bring up a discussion about the USGS' data distribution policy concerning the SDTS DEMs. Most people aren't losing sleep over this any longer as there's simply so many alternative resources available these days... it is, however, still an issue for some and the topic is frequently brought on on discussion lists and newsgroups. From the article... Say what you want about the SDTS format, however, given that USGS DEM data are distributed (natively) using the cumbersome SDTS data format there's not much you can do about that. But what about access to native USGS SDTS DEM data? You actually do have a say (somewhat) about it and many GIS professionals are still left wondering why these data are only available from a select few commercial data providers (portals)? Read on as we explore this topic a little deeper. http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/7797/28/