[OSM-legal-talk] Starting Repository For Public Domain OSM Data

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

80n wrote:
> Perhaps PD is not as simple as it seems at first sight.

The thing that is simple about PD is what contributors want - they 
simply want to make the data available to anyone, forever, without 
restrictions of any kind, full stop. You will not find a single use case 
where one PD advocate says "I want this to be possible" and another says 
"nay, this should not be allowed" and the third says "ok we can allow 
this but only if the licensee dons a funny hat and runs in circles for 
half an hour". We're all 100% on the same side and there is absolutely 
no discussion about where to draw the line between "allowed" and "not 
allowed".

The more complex thing is that some jurisdictions make it really 
difficult for you to give away your rights so generously. So the guy who 
told you "use my data as you see fit" might actually be from a country 
where him saying so doesn't exactly mean what he says! But this is 
really legislation gone mad, and should not be held against the idea of 
PD. The idea of giving away something freely, with no strings attached, 
*is* a very simple idea that can easily be understood by anyone.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"