Is there an API or Web Service that can be used to read AIS data? Most links I read starting at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Identification_System) say that AIS data is freely available but I'm having a hard time finding a provider of the data. A C# example or language agnostic web service would be helpful.
I ended up using vesseltracker.com for this project. Unfortunately it's a "call us for a price" service so I'll continue looking for a provider with a flat/reasonable/free rate.