On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 8:20 AM, Al Haraka <alhar...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 11:06 AM, Apollinaris Schoell > <ascho...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > US government data is public domain. you can do whatever you like to do > > with it. All big ones from Garmin, Google ... you name it use this data. > > there is absolute no need to get explicit permission for individuals. It > is > > the law and what can be more explicit than that. As an example county of > > Santa Clara even lost the law suit a couple of years ago when they tried > to > > protect and sell their data for more than redistribution costs. > > > I do not know if you are a lawyer, or even one with sitting on the bar > in any jurisdiction in the United States. That being said, neither am > I. The Santa Clara case, the similar one in Schenectady, NY, and > dozens of others are good examples of what you mean. But still, > blanket generalizations from people without legal credentials, *me* > included, will not prevent us from getting sued or into legal trouble > or building something that holds water so we can prevent others from > screwing us/abusing all the hard work we do. Also, notice the few > attorneys involved with OSM (SteveC mentioned them) have the scruples > to not discuss it with lots of us, as it will not help and people > construing their emails on these lists as bona fide legal advice gets > them in trouble. Hence, they have been very silent the entire time > despite people demanding answers on licensing as of late. That is not > an accident. This is why I asked about their capacity as attorneys > earlier. I do not mean to be rude or start a flame, but what legal > resources are necessary whether or not we like to think all USG data > is PD, and we can do whatever we want with it. > > I am not even close to be a lawyer but this is has been discussed and proved in court many times. this maybe different for some states and is different for data provided by companies or organizations even when the government funded them. > > -- > Alexander J. Stein > Cell: (201) 412-9479 > Email: alhar...@gmail.com > Skype: alexander.j.stein > AIM: elduderino6886 >
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