[OSM-legal-talk] ODbL comments from Creative Commons

[SteveC]

On 23 Mar 2009, at 06:44, John Wilbanks wrote:

>> But open data is much more than just science and education. It's more
>> than OSM; it's more than maps. The assiduous
>> how-late-is-my-sodding-train-today people on our town website, for
>> example, are creating a database that could potentially be licensed
>> openly.
>
> Well put.
>
> Then let's open up the license working group to science and education
> and OSM and more.

Currently the working group is here to represent the OSM community.

> Then let's do a real analysis of the environmental impact of the  
> license
> on other communities where the PD is already working and could be
> enclosed by an "open" database license.
>
> Then let's have more than a short window of comment time.
>
> But as far as I can tell, this is an OSM driven event. I don't know
> anyone outside OSM as a community rep that's on the working group. Yet
> it's being called an Open Database License for cross-community use.

Yes, and comments in that context should be directed to Jordan and the  
ODC.

> We spent about three years working on this across a range of  
> scientific
> disciplines. CC has analyzed it in the context of education and  
> culture.
>
> We came to the PD conclusion. OSM doesn't want to go PD - that's fine,
> in the end. But when you call the license written by and for a
> streetmapping community a solution for the rest of the world when the
> DBs and norms involved vary so much...well, it's odd to then get mad
> when the rest of the world comes in and comments on it.

I think you're conveniently skipping a lot of the politics behind that.

> Trust me, I have a lot of other things to do with my time. But as long
> as this license gets promoted as a generic solution for "open data" it
> gets debated inside science, and that has the direct consequence of
> enclosing the public domain in my space. My job is to prevent that. If
> the name could simply be changed I would have a lot less problems  
> here...

John if you start your emails in future with "My job is to prevent you  
doing this" it would all be a lot clearer.

Everyone should be clear that you guys philosophically just don't want  
this, and you have to take out that bias to get at the substance.

Best

Steve