[OSM-legal-talk] ODBL enforcement: contract law and remedies

[Matt Amos]

On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 3:14 PM, Ed Avis <eda at waniasset.com> wrote:
> Tom Hughes <tom at ...> writes:
>
>>>But strong claims require strong evidence.  To claim that CC-BY-SA is
>>>'dreadful' requires, IMHO, evidence of real rather than theoretical cases
>>>where it's holding back the goal of free map data.  You might tell me that
>>>the fence around my field is completely ineffective and I should upgrade to
>>>an electric fence, but I might ask on what particular occasion my livestock
>>>have managed to escape.  If they haven't ever done so, perhaps the fence is
>>>working after all.
>>
>>How do you we propose we get this real evidence? Go our and beg somebody
>>to steal our data so we can sue them and see if CC works?
>
> If nobody has stolen the data, then CC does 'work'.  As you say, the aim is not
> to entrap people into violating the licence so the project can then sue them,
> but rather to deter them enough that they won't take the chance.  It seems to
> be accomplishing that aim.

these sites are in non-compliance with the license
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Lacking_proper_attribution

in any case, it's not useful to talk about people "stealing" the data
- anyone can take a copy of the data without depriving us of the
original copy. there are people who aren't in full compliance with the
license, but in all of these cases i'm pretty sure it's an oversight
more than it's deliberate.

as a thought experiment, what would happen if i took the latest planet
and put it up on my server (let's assume that both i and my server are
in the US) with a PD license?

> So while accepting that CC has its flaws, I cannot agree that it is 'dreadful',
> 'useless' or 'completely ineffective'.

i think we're agreed that all licenses have flaws. the sticking point
seems to be that i'm of the opinion that CC's flaws are so great that
the hassle of moving to a better license is the lesser evil. you
appear to be of the opinion that the hassle is greater than any
potential benefits. is that an accurate statement?

cheers,

matt