[Talk-us] Uploading all Post Office Drop Box locations in

[Joshua Finnie]

As for the comment about copyright, I am not sure if this pertains to
geographic data like locations of post offices or mail boxes.  From
Wikipedia (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government#Exemptions
):

Exemptions

Works by certain independent agencies, corporations and Federal subsidiaries
> may be exempt from US Government copyright status. For instance, material
> produced by the United States Postal Service<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service>
> [8]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government#cite_note-7> are
> typically subject to normal copyright. Most USPS materials, artwork and
> design and all postage stamps as of January 1, 1978 or after are subject to
> copyright laws. Works of the former United States Post Office Department<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Post_Office_Department> are
> in the public domain (due to its former position as a cabinet department).


I think this exemption is dealing with the artistic works that come out of
the USPS like stamps etc.

Just my 2 cents.

**************************************************************
Joshua Finnie
Central Connecticut State University
Masters of Science in Geography
24 Park Pl Apt B8H
Hartford, CT 06106
(860) 716-5996
**************************************************************


On Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 3:53 PM, Frederik Ramm <frederik at remote.org> wrote:

> Friends,
>
> Hillsman, Edward wrote:
> > The websites for these companies do not show all of the boxes I have
> > mapped from direct observation.
>
> There's an important message in what Ed writes ;-)
>
> It is probably a natural hacker instinct: Map one drop box manually, ok.
> Map two, accetable. Map three and you shoud really think about obtaining
> a list and automating the process!
>
> I suggest to resist that urge and map drop boxes by hand. There may be
> license issues, or the data may be too old, but even if it were current
> and in the public domain I'd hesitate. It may seem a tedious task but
> this is how maps are made - go out there and survey something. POIs are
> extraordinarily easy to survey, anyone with a decent mobile gadget can
> do it. Use it as an opportunity to get people interested!
>
> (Maybe you can elicit from USPS the *number* of drop boxes in a given
> area, so you have an idea about how complete OSM is. You can even make a
> game of hunting down the last missing drop boxes...)
>
> OSM is about people, not data.
>
> Sorry, I know it sounds patronizing. But someone had to say it ;-)
>
> Bye
> Frederik
>
> --
> Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"
>
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