That was a very interesting article. Thanks for posting it. Here is a question:
It's obvious to me that you can't copyright a neighborhood name. But I wonder to what extent you might have a legitimate claim from an organization to the previously "unknown". In this case, I'd say you might have the actual geographic boundaries of the neighborhoods and the algorithm/technique to compute those boundaries that can be protected. As much as I believe in open access to spatial data, I think if you are hired by a company to answer a previous unknown, that you can't turn around and do with that data what you want. To me, we'd have a completely different situation if the neighborhood boundaries already existed, and weren't being calculated as part of the mapping process. On a side note, the USGS quad maps do show some neighborhood names. Another side note: Most subdivision maps in the United States are given a name, which then usually becomes the name of the neighborhood. For example, I live in Little John's Creek Subdivision. Subdivision maps definitely have a defined boundary recorded in the public record, so you should have a hard time copyrighting that! I wonder if Subdivision Maps were used in this process of mapping neighborhoods, or if it was a strictly "social geography" thing. Landon -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ian White Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 10:42 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Geowanking] Lawsuit Claims Mapmaking Firm Owns Your Neighborhood yeah, as usual, taken out of context..I said local advertising (print+online) is around $17b but isn't the real interesting story more about spatial data and who owns what...? come on, let's get it on! i know steve c and sean have some strong opinions about this! Ian White :: Urban Mapping Inc 690 Fifth Street Suite 200 :: San Francisco CA 94107 T.415.946.8170 x800 :: F.866.385.8266 urbanmapping.com/blog ________________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Shane Ring [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 10:34 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Geowanking] Lawsuit Claims Mapmaking Firm Owns Your Neighborhood $17 billion really? How was that number calculated? Just curious... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The lawsuit highlights the growing importance of neighborhood data in web applications and science. Since Wahl pioneered the industry four years ago, other companies have entered the neighborhood-mapping field, which has swollen into a big part of a $17 billion localized-mapping industry, says Ian White, CEO of San Francisco-based Urban Mapping. http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2008/10/neighborhood _______________________________________________ Geowanking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking Warning: Information provided via electronic media is not guaranteed against defects including translation and transmission errors. If the reader is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this information in error, please notify the sender immediately. _______________________________________________ Geowanking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.burri.to/mailman/listinfo/geowanking
