[OSM-talk] Not sure what to think

[Tom Lee]

Google indexing a site, and your use of that index to find the site, does
not taint the interaction between you and that site. If I trespass on
private property on my way to buy groceries, the property owner might have
a claim against me. But it is unlikely that they have any claim on my
newly-purchased groceries.

In this case, there are additional factors in our favor: the information
being retrieved doesn't seem to be collected systematically; it's factual
information about the world; and it's being collected from unstructured
sources.

I don't want to pretend there is no tension here--indeed, I think there's a
very real tension between the idea of database rights and the necessity of
making facts unencumbered by IP. And it is conceivable to me that some
corner of the Google TOS implies a right to restrict this kind of user
activity. It's common for such tensions to exist without resolution until
they are brought before a judge.

But the idea that facts indexed by Google could be tainted is a stretch.
It's not something they've tried to claim, it would be a tenuous legal
argument, and it doesn't make much sense. I think this is a case where
practical judgment must outweigh theoretical concerns.
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