[OSM-talk] CC-BY-SA still available?

[Michael Collinson]

On 17/04/2011 08:39, Andrew Harvey wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 9:37 PM, Michael Collinson<mike at ayeltd.biz>  wrote:
>    
>> ...From Sunday, we will run 5 weeks allowing folks
>> who decline the ability to continue editing, i.e. CC-BY-SA only
>> contributions. The objective is get the remaining 77,000 to accept or
>> decline. If that runs slowly, we add up to 5 more weeks. Else, we proceed to
>> the question of actually switching from CC-BY-SA to ODbL and has no date
>> set.
>>      
> Mike, if the OSMF is permitting current contributors to decline the
> CTs and continue editing, i.e. CC-BY-SA only contributions, why can't
> the OSMF allow new contributors to sign up and decline the CTs and
> begin editing CC-BY-SA only contributions?
>    
Andrew, Time and not making a rod for our own backs is the short answer.

There are 370,000 registered users today.  We were much criticised, and 
in retrospect I think rightly, for trying to push things through while 
the user base was small and the process maneagable for a volunteer team. 
Doing it this way, the problem does not grow and we are moving at the 
much slower pace demanded. Reaching, informing and persuading 77,000 
folks with 12,500 of them contributing 98%+ of all OSM data is still 
daunting but possible. Older users should also have been around long 
enough for most to know that a license change has been actively 
discussed since 2005 and be aware of some of the issues.

As to the converse.  Much as I would like to completely assume that the 
process will succeed, it may not, and it would be unfair to cut off 
older contributors in this way until the numbers become clearer.

If we make the numbers, then these new users are unaffected.

If we do not, new users are still unaffected, they have agreed to the 
use of either CC-BY-SA or ODbL.  They also have the right, which older 
contributors do not, of triggering a democratic,  frameworked and much 
shorter process to demand a license change ... which could of course 
include CC-BY-SA.

Mike