[Talk-GB] License change & anonymous edits

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

On 01/10/12 15:37, Frederik Ramm wrote:
>> Yes, the trouble is when Frederik pointed this out and referred to the
>> page, it says it is for cases where the suspect edit has been wiped out,
>> not simply verified from other sources. How can you change the name from
>> itself to itself and actually have changed anything?
>
> Just delete the name tag and re-add it. It's not your fault if the
> editor doesn't upload that to the API then ;)

More seriously: There is *no* way you can acquire intellectual property 
of something by saying that "I have looked it up and it is correct".

You either have to remove it and re-create it, even if the result looks 
the same - even if, and hence my snarky remark in the previous email, 
the API doesn't actually see your actions -, or you have to dispute that 
there was any intellectual property in the first place.

But doing neither - i.e., saying "yes, 80n did have intellectual 
property on this one, and no, I didn't change it, but yes, it is now 
ODbL clean" is, in my eyes, a legal impossibility. (You might want to 
talk to a lawyer about that or, failing that, at least raise the matter 
on legal-talk.)

I have added a pointer to existing odbl=clean information to Peter's 
wiki page.

I think first and foremost, odbl=clean means "I take responsibility for 
this object being clean". OSMF will not usually question your decision, 
just as it doesn't usually question your uploading of something new; 
only if someone complains - and there *are* people who watch *very* 
closely what happens to their non-ODbL contributions - will the 
situation have to be investigated.

The results of such investigation are hard to predict. If someone 
prefers to wait for clear directions - feel free to do so, but 
personally, I'd rather start fixing things than wait & discuss.

Bye
Frederik