<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<font size="+1">Hi,<br>
<br>
Following on from a comment on <i>talk</i><i>-scotland</i> about
bitcoin-related spam appearing on the map, I had a dig around
locally in Toronto. It seems that there's a user <b>BitcoinMaps</b>
who is either randomly placing business locations on the map, or
is using a really terrible algorithm to place markers on behalf of
some other website's users.<br>
<br>
F'rinstance, here's one of the user's nodes:<br>
</font>
<pre><node id="<a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/node/3295611361">3295611361</a>" visible="true" version="1" changeset="28221482" timestamp="2015-01-18T00:17:52Z"
user="BitcoinMaps" uid="2135320" lat="43.6390092" lon="-79.3354046">
<tag k="addr:city" v="Phoenix"/>
<tag k="addr:housenumber" v="11225 "/>
<tag k="addr:street" v="N. 28th Drive, Suite A-110"/>
<tag k="amenity" v="cafe"/>
<tag k="contact:phone" v="602-595-8393"/>
<tag k="contact:website" v=<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="https://www.facebook.com/AshleighsCafeLakeShore">"https://www.facebook.com/AshleighsCafeLakeShore"</a>/>
<tag k="description" v="Breakfast and Lunch served. Bagels, breakfast burritos, skillets, lunch meat sandwiches on whole grains and rye, croissants, wraps, melts, Chicago dogs and salads. "/>
<tag k="name" v="Ashleigh's Cafe"/>
<tag k="payment:bitcoin" v="yes"/>
</node>
</pre>
<font size="+1">This would be all well and good (minor tagging
oddnesses aside) for a cafe in Phoenix, AZ, but the marker is in
Lake Ontario, a little south of Toronto. I have e-mailed the user,
particularly requesting information on where they get their
locations, and how change comments automatically created through
an API (created_by="BitcoinMaps API") all reading “</font>This
place has been automatically created.<font size="+1">” could ever be
anything other than an automated import.<br>
<br>
I have no problem with people tagging businesses that use
bitcoin*, as long as they at least try to meet some community
norms. Spattering the map with noise, however, irks me royally.<br>
<br>
cheers,<br>
Stewart<br>
<br>
*: everybody knows that Dogecoin is better, though. Very currency,
wow.<br>
<br>
</font>
</body>
</html>