[OSM-talk] About my stubbornness

Ronan Oger ronan at roasp.com
Mon Jul 24 17:49:54 BST 2006


On Monday 24 July 2006 18:43, Nick Black wrote:
> On 7/24/06, Ronan Oger <ronan at roasp.com> wrote:
> > On Monday 24 July 2006 10:54, Nick Black wrote:
> > > I dont see how IP logging would provide an adequate level of
> > > protection against copywright violation. Most people do not have a
> > > static IP address and as OSM moves out of the expert domain, this
> > > proportion will become increasingly significant.
> >
> > IP logging provides a deterrant. These breadcrumbs are tracked at the ISP
> > level back to the dsl modem. This may appear out of reach of OSM but is
> > certainly within reach of any litigant who goes through the trouble to
> > track down copyrighted data.
>
> But if ISPs only keep the data for 6 months, this is not very useful.

True, if 6 months is the maximum time the ISP can keep the data. But if it is 
the *minimum* time, then most likely it goes into their archiving system and 
actually lives for much longer.

>
> > The only (partial) exception is people who are wardriving and scoop
> > unsuspecting peoples' IP traffic. Generally, though, these people make up
> > a small minority of users. And in that case, the legally responsible
> > person is still the account holder of the dsl line.
>
> I think in the UK people have succesfully defended prosecutions
> claiming they downloaded banned material that were based on ISP
> records, on the grounds that they had an unsecured wireless network.
> Is it defnitely the responsibility of the owner of the dsl line?
>

One could possibly argue that one can not be held responsable for what others 
do with our line.

Nonetheless, I am not sure how this would play. Also, this is probably highly 
nationally regionalized. The fact that OSM is in the UK most likely does not 
protect it from US or any other foreign copyright claims. Still, what the OSM 
team can show is that all users agreed to submit only non-copyrighted 
material and stated that their material is hinderance-free. If an individual 
turned out to submit hindered material, then the individual is liable and OSM 
can provide the ip address.

Ronan

> Nick
>
> > --
> > Ronan Oger
> > Director
> > RO IT Systems GmbH
> >         ...Building Web2.0 with SVG since 2001
> >
> > http://www.roitsystems.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > talk at openstreetmap.org
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-- 
Ronan Oger
Director
RO IT Systems GmbH
	...Building Web2.0 with SVG since 2001

http://www.roitsystems.com




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