[OSM-talk] [Announce] OSMF license change vote has started

[Ed Avis]

Richard Fairhurst <richard <at> systemed.net> writes:

>Under CC-BY-SA, attribution and share-alike are required when you distribute
>OSM data, or a derivative of it.
>
>They are not required, of course, if you don't distribute the data. If I
>write a program that downloads planet.osm to my hard disc, then replaces the
>word "node" with "nude" throughout, I don't have to give it back or
>attribute OSM. 

I consider this a feature, indeed, a necessary freedom.  If the licence
doesn't allow you to make private modifications to the data then it's no
longer free, in my opinion.

>In other words: If you want to use OSM data without attribution or
>share-alike, you may do so by distributing the program that makes the
>derivative, rather than the derivative itself.

Right.  Of course it is up to the user of that program to comply with
licensing if and when they choose to distribute the data further.

Is this really so bad?

-- 
Ed Avis <eda at waniasset.com>