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

Frederik Ramm frederik at remote.org
Fri Jan 28 07:59:45 GMT 2011


Hi,

On 01/28/11 08:43, Maria Arias de Reyna wrote:
> It is not necessarily but I, for instance, use JOSM for other purposes more
> than tracing OSM. And, sometimes, I use *legitimately* the Google data with my
> own data.

As Andrzej has pointed out, you are probably *not*; the way Google tiles 
are accessed and displayed through JOSM always violates Google's terms 
of use, even if they are not used for tracing.

> Do you want to close other posible uses of this platform just because there
> are dumb users who want to skip rules?

Yes. It is certainly a problematic case but I am absolutely sure that 
the overwhelming use of Google in JOSM is to trace from it, compared to 
a negligible amount of non-copyright-infringing use. If it were the 
other way round - for example, if there was a software the primary aim 
of which was to be a map viewer, and through some plugins you could also 
activate a limited OSM editing function - then things might be 
different. But JOSM is primarily an OSM editor, and not doing something 
against the (perceived, by me) 99% non-acceptable uses just because that 
also affects the 1% acceptable uses would be hypocritical.

> The problem is not JOSM's, as far as I
> can see, but from the users who use it.

Right. And by disallowing Google tiles, we make sure that the wrong 
users - those who want to trace from Google - don't use JOSM ;)

Bye
Frederik



More information about the josm-dev mailing list