[OSM-legal-talk] Please enable commercial use

[Nathan Vander Wilt]

>> I really would like to see a license as simple as the following:
>>
>> For data users -
>> 0. Open Street Map collects and creates public domain map data.
>> 1. Attribution of Open Street Map is expected. We make it easy.
>> 2. Contributing back or freely sharing modifications is very strongly
>> encouraged.
>
> Except that neither 1 or 2 would have any force in law. So this is
> equivalent to PD.

The first sentence is correct, but I disagree with the second  
sentence. Contributors would need to understand that, yes, someone  
could trample the rights they gave up. But the majority of data users  
would likely honor the Community Norms, enough so that whatever tricks  
the minority pulled (what's the worst they could do?) would be  
insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Haven't we seen how vandalism ends up being overcome by communities  
like this? Why would occasional proprietarization not fall into the  
same category of "minor annoyances"?

thanks,
-natevw