[OSM-legal-talk] Phase 4 and what it means

[Kai Krueger]

Frederik Ramm wrote:
> 
> Now I sense some uncertainty among mappers as to what phase 4 exactly 
> means for them. I know for a fact that among the current disagreeing 
> mappers there are some who intend to stay with OSM and who are just 
> holding out until the last minute; and I know there are some who simply 
> wanted to delay their decision until later.
> 
Yes, there are a number of people who have declined to relicense as it is
the only way available to formally voice ones disagreement with any of a)
the new licence, b) the CT or c) the process. Nevertheless, they remain
adamant supports and enthusiasts of OSM. Just that they happen to disagree
with what is best for the project and without being able to see into the
future it is pretty much impossible to say for sure which cause of action is
the best for the project.

So it is important to try and not alienate either side as much as possible.
Phase 4 is critical in this respect, as it is the first time ones decision
has actual consequences for mappers and starts locking users out of the
project, some of whom have put a huge amount of effort into OSM to ensure it
has become a success and deserve everyones respect. So it is bound to give
bad blood and result in highly emotional debates.  


Frederik Ramm wrote:
> 
> "Do not delete and re-map anything before <date>. We will send out a 
> message to everyone who has not agreed to the license change, and inform 
> them that after that date, mappers are likely to purge non-relicensed 
> data and that if they want their data to remain, they need to redecide 
> before that date."
> 
Out of the listed options, I would personally prefer this option most, as it
imho leaves the most options open. However, rather than a specific date, I
would advertise the "date" to be the time at which a critical mass is
reached. I.e. when it becomes clear that sufficient data has successfully
been relicensed that the damage due to data loss will be acceptable to the
overall project.

That then really is the point of no return at which one can start a graceful
damage control by replacing no relicensable data.

At that point I presume OSMF will decide on a formal date on which phase 5
will begin. In order to give all data users enough time to adapt to the new
license and consider the consequences, I would expect OSMF to set this date
at least a month or two in advance, which will then still give mappers a
reasonable amount of time to start fixing up the holes that the relicensing
process will produce in the data.

Kai



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