[OSM-legal-talk] CTs and the 1 April deadline

[Tobias Knerr]

Anthony wrote:
> Let people remove their data if they don't agree to future licensing
> terms.

It's my impression that this statement reflects the fundamental
philosophical reason why you seem to disagree with all versions of the
Contributor Terms so far: You insist on the idea of individual data
ownership.

The Contributor Terms are clearly based on the idea that we are building
a database together. It's not just several people's maps sitting next to
each other, it's a collective effort, with no clear separation between
"my data", "your data" and "their data".
As a consequence, aspects such as the license are subject to collective,
not individual, decisions.

I believe that this underlying spirit of the Contributor Terms fits the
reality of OSM. Already today, there's hardly a way I've created or
edited that hasn't been edited by others as well. And with the
increasing density of contributors, this effect will become even more
evident.

Working together like this means relying on others' contributions still
being there tomorrow, even if we change the license again. Therefore, I
could not support a regulation as requested by you, where an individual
mapper could pull out their contributions (and thus remove the
foundation for others' contributions) in the event of a license change.

Tobias