[OSM-talk] Google WMS: is this legal?

[Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason]

On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 08:28, simone gadenz <s.gadenz at geologyx.it> wrote:
> I have just come across this WMS service providing google maps background for OSM editing. Is it legal?
>
> http://www.peterdamen.com/GoogleWMS/

Is it legal to?

 * Use it in JOSM: Yes
 * Edit data based on it: Yes
 * Upload it to the OSM servers: No

I've used this extension with good results for producing derived work
from Google Maps + OSM for my own use, of course I didn't upload it to
OSM once I was done.

JOSM has the capability to use any server you want (or none at all),
not all servers are run at *.openstreetmap.org.

As OSM becomes more popular more people are going to use the .osm
format and editing tools built for OSM for non-OSM uses.

It would be useful if we could accommodate these uses by e.g. making
plugins like these part of the official JOSM plugin directory. Of
course there would also have to be other changes like some way of
having WMS layers register that they're unsuitable for being uploaded
to OSM and a way of marking data as having been edited with some given
WMS as a backdrop.

But really, don't send people hate mail just because they enable users
to do something non-free with OSM tools. I'm sure the FSF doesn't send
people who write non-free programs with Emacs hate mail :)