[OSM-talk] Why the BSD vs GPL debate is irrelevant to OSM

[Liz]

On Sun, 13 Dec 2009, andrzej zaborowski wrote:
> > Sure, but what does it mean for geospatial data to "be free"?
>
> In short that I can improve it and send to friends.  In detail I will
> take the definition from http://opendefinition.org/1.0
Could be just the same as the law and medical knowledge
When you go to the lawyers, you pay for the lawyer's expertise. The lawyer 
looks up the law in law books, statutes etc, and uses that information for 
you, without paying some licence fee or tax for that knowledge. (S)he looks up 
past cases to see what points made a case go one way or the other. That 
knowledge is free to use, perhaps not free as in beer, as the books are bought 
from a printer / publisher.

Actually it is ironic that lawyers use free knowledge to lock up other 
peoples' knowledge.