[josm-dev] Fwd: Filter Google from Imagery?

[Frederik Ramm]

JOSM devs,

    with the templated TMS layer it is now trivial to display Google
aerial imagery or Google maps as a background in JOSM. Doing so might
violate Google's terms of use already (I am unsure but I guess that
using their tiles without a Google logo is not OK); but of course using
their data for anything to do with OSM is a big No-No.

I wonder if we should thus build a blacklist into the Imagery layer so
that it will refuse to use certain tile or WMS URLs. Potlatch already
does this.

This would of course be "nannying" our users, something I've always been
against; our users should be able to make these decisions for
themselves. On the other hand, where in the past it would at least have
required some hacking and knowledge to use Google, it is now a simple
entry in the imagery configuration and I fear that this makes it too
easy (a novice could read this "cool tip" somewhere and apply it
unthinkingly).

If we ban Google backgrounds, of course anyone with a little Java skill
(or a little web server redirection magic) could circumvent this, but at
least if somebody compiles their own, modified JOSM version they cannot
say that they didn't know.

Another option that we could think about is setting certain tags on the
uploaded changeset that indicate what background layers were used (e.g.
source:tile-url=blah.google.com/blah/blah). We could inform users of our
doing so but disallow removal of these tags, which would hopefully make
sure they only use legal stuff. But that would run the risk of invading
users' privacy (e.g. they could be using a tile source at the office
intranet, thus betraying that they were mapping during working
hours...). And of course this, too, could be circumvented.

Opinions on the whole thing? Problem is, if it is *too* easy to load
Google backgrounds, we (as a project) could be accused of knowingly
inviting tracing from Google.

Bye
Frederik