[OSM-legal-talk] Warning about not mapping military areas

[Mateusz Konieczny]

I am strongly against anything that would imply that not following Chinese law
is violating OSM rules. It is not, also for people under Chinese juridistriction

Though making people aware about such laws seems OK to me, 
as long it is not done in way that suggests that OSM enforces or supports
this laws.

Obviously, if such laws would be enacted in UK then OSMF would be legally
obligated to follow it - but we do not need to enforce Chinese or Russian laws.

I would propose to note that

- mapping military installations may be dangerous, also for legal reasons
- mapping military installations is not against OSM rules

Dec 22, 2020, 01:50 by graemefitz1 at gmail.com:

> Hi
>
> I have recently raised a proposal for mapping military bases > https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Proposed_features/Military_bases> , & I included a "warning" > (> As always, if it is illegal in your country to map military establishments, please do not do so)> , similar to warnings, & discussions, that I have noticed on other military pages eg
> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:military> , 
> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Talk:Key:military#.22please.2C_please_do_not_mark_military_areas.22.3F>  &
> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:landuse%3Dmilitary> .
>
> My inclusion of this warning on my proposal has created some argument that we shouldn't include such warnings, as while it may be illegal for residents of any particular country to map military areas, it isn't illegal for them to be added to OSM eg 
> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Talk:Proposed_features/Military_bases#Remove_claim_that_not_respecting_mapping_ban_is_against_OSM_rules
> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/tagging/2020-December/057105.html>  & following posts
>
My claim is not that it is not illegal - but that it is not against OSM rules.

---------------------------------

For reference, China makes illegal to map China without special permission
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_data_in_China ),

India censors media with borders they dislike
https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/map-of-kashmir-lands-economist-in-censor-trouble/story-0Dk3GPzysf2UhtI69cTS3K.html

---------------------------------

But, as far as I know, violating this laws is not against any OSM rules, also for people 
within jurisdiction of this countries.

What is not changed is that government may use their powers to punish someone
for such cases of breaking law.

---------------------------------

https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Terms_of_Use#III._Unlawful_and_other_unauthorized_uses
is not listing compliance with local laws as one of forbidden activities (in theory such laws
could be formulated in way that falls under first case, but AFAIK none of them defines
such restrictions in terms of copyright or copyright like restrictions).

There is "You are solely responsible for your compliance with all applicable laws, regulations,
and third party agreements in your use of the Services." - I am not a lawyer but it seems to
not imply that violating local law violates OSM rules.

See also https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/w/images/d/d8/DisputedTerritoriesInformation.pdf
where OSMF refused to follow laws of specific countries/territories - 
("we cannot delete base data to suit a particular legal jurisdiction")

openstreetmap.org displays line of control as boundary between Pakistan and India,
no matter whatever India and Pakistan likes it or not and whatever they made such 
laws illegal in their country or not.

OSM is not using GCJ-02 distortion in China, OSM map is displaying North Korean 
concentration camps 
( https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=41.833486&mlon=129.725597&zoom=16#map=16/41.8335/129.7256 )
and so on.
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