[OSM-legal-talk] Noise vs unanswered questions

[Simon Ward]

On Fri, Sep 03, 2010 at 10:54:50AM +0100, Rob Myers wrote:
> >The contributor terms are now the sticking point for many people against
> >the ODbL+DbCL+CT combination, and these are not just people against a
> >licence change from CC by-sa, but people who are in principle happy with
> >the licence change.
> 
> This is a change that cannot be sugar-coated. It is needed in order
> to ensure that if future changes become necessary they can be made.
> 
> I'm sorry to be harsh but I think that concentrating on the risks of
> the new CTs rather than the risks they are meant to address shows a
> failure of perspective.

I don’t think that’s harsh; I think it’s wrong. ;)

I see advantages and disadvantages to the CTs, but I believe the
disadvantages currently outweigh the advantages.

> I don't believe that a stoic or pollyannaish acceptance that the
> licence of OSM may gradually be rendered ineffective by change outside
> the project is morally superior to enabling the project to rise to
> future challenges.

I’m also not intending that the CTs become something that allows OSM to
be gradually rendered ineffective.  From my side of this fake wall you
have put up, I am indeed intending that they allow OSM to be effective,
and continue to allow OSM to be effective, without over extending grants
to a third party.  If I could make it happen without even having to have
a third party involved, I would.  Unfortunately, I think it is also
beyond possibility.

> And if people are worried that future changes will not be to their
> liking they need to get involved in the process more actively.

I’m worried that proposed changes in the very near future aren’t to my
liking.  Am I not actively involved now?

Simon
-- 
A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a
simple system that works.—John Gall
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