[Strategic] needs of business users
"Oliver Kühn"
oliver.kuehn at gmx.de
Tue Jun 22 19:17:59 BST 2010
Hi,
today's post in the legal mailing list demonstrates some of the big weaknesses of OpenStreetMap, which need to be reflected in the strategy.
>I would like to know if we can use osm data + private data for commercial >use.
>
>
>Example 1 :
>i've a osm map and i sell the service; that a company can see a car fleet
>on a map. Can i do that ?
>
>Example 2/ :
>i've a osm map on my own server, but because i've some private data and >too dangerous for the company to publish it, i will never publish it to >the community.
>But i sell a service to a company that i can track people in an industrial
>site.
>
>So can i do that ? because i will use the osm data + i've added my own >data on that. And i will sell the service to be able to track the >employees.
This is one of the typical use cases for business users that is characterized by (some points might not 100% correct but are used for demonstration purposes):
(a) the user has found limitations with alternative maps
(a1) tracking and tracing is not allowed
(a2) an area in the map has not the desired detailed coverage
Both points make OSM a perfect fit. However, the user is unlikely to use OSM for the following reasons
(b) the fear of the obligation to make proprietary data public, triggered by
(b1) it is not clear to him which license applies
(b2) lack of transparency how to interpret the current license
(b3) lack of support by achieving transparency in regards to the license
(b4) support from the community might help but does not lead to
"waterproof" statements
(b5) even if he is willing to pay he does not get the support he requires
(c) the missing opportunity to create a proprietary map of an industrial area without sharing it with the community
(c1) he could use a (image) layer that represents the industrial area but he wants to you OSM tools to "draw" the industrial site
For me there are several strategic action points to increase the acceptance of commercial users:
(1) We need the new license as fast as possible
(2) We need to enhance the guidelines for the new license so that everybody will understand what is allowed and what is not
(3) We need to find someone who can provide (paid) professional legal support that results in "waterproof" statements concerning the license. I think it would be sufficient to cooperate with two or three international law firms that we can refer to.
(4) We need to think about the opportunity to create detailed maps of non-public areas that do not fall into the share-alike category by either (a) the opportunity to exclude limited areas from the share-alike license or (b) establish a solution where users can derive a an image layer for selected areas by using OSM editing tools.
Regards,
Oliver
--
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Oliver Kühn
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