[OSM-legal-talk] ODbL: How obscure/inaccessible can published algorithms be?

[Anthony]

On Sun, Dec 13, 2009 at 1:08 PM, Matt Amos <zerebubuth at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Dec 13, 2009 at 3:37 PM, Anthony <osm at inbox.org> wrote:
> > On Sun, Dec 13, 2009 at 2:37 AM, 80n <80n80n at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> The example I described above clearly demonstrates that you can't
> >> differentiate between company A who doesn't use a derived database and
> >> company B who does.
> >
> > What if company C makes a derived database and gives it to company D?
> Does
> > company D have to release the derived database?
>
> no. if company D is a subcontractor to company C and no produced works
> are published. if either company C or D publish produced works from
> the database, they must make an offer of it. if company D isn't a
> subcontractor then company C must make an offer of the database.
>

Okay, so if company C makes derived database and gives it to company D, then
company D creates tiles with that database, company D has to offer the
database to anyone who receives the tiles, right?

However, if company D downloads the original database from OSM, then company
D creates tiles with that database, company D doesn't have to offer the
database to anyone who receives the tiles, right?

Rereading the ODbL, this seems like the most natural way to read it.

Assuming these two points are true, what is considered the original
database?  Anything on the official (planet.openstreetmap.org) download
site?  Only databases which were created by OSMF employees?  Only the raw
on-disk PostgreSQL datastores?  Something else?

If I distribute a tile on March 31, 2010, what exactly do I need to offer?
The exact portion of the database which is used to create this tile?  If the
data later changes, I still need to keep the old version in case someone
takes me up on my offer, right?  Is it enough to keep the full history and
expect people to look at the timestamps to figure out the state of the
database at the time of their download?

Can users decline the offer, in which case I can delete the database?  Can I
give users the option to download the database immediately or to decline the
offer, so I don't have to keep historical data around indefinitely?

> Do they have to mention
> > company C?
>
> if D produces works, or further distributes the database or a
> derivative of it then yes.
>

What if company C gives them permission not to, or if company C asks them
not to reveal who they are?
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