On 21/11/06, Stan Shebs stanshebs@earthlink.net wrote:
So the problem here is that the euroskeptic opponent thinks this is ESA's problem, and that ESA feels it has to go along with this idea. That is: the problem you're describing is local politics rather than that open content licences are problematic.
The significant point is that the complaint was taken seriously by anybody at all. If somebody in the US complained about a NASA photo in a supermarket ad, even the most timid NASA bureaucrat would feel safe in showing the letter around the office for a laugh, and then pitching it into the trash. The bureaucrat knows that even if the complainer somehow got the attention of a news reporter, it would be for a segment on all the nutjobs who waste NASA's time.
FWIW, NASA take it seriously enough that they explicitly prohibit it:
"If the NASA material is to be used for commercial purposes, especially including advertisements, it must not explicitly or implicitly convey NASA's endorsement of commercial goods or services."
(extract from the copyright notice on nix.nasa.gov, their main public photograph archive)
They don't make any statements about political usage, but I suspect they would be v. cagey were it used to "convey endorsement" in a similar manner.
I assume the issue is not that Americans don't care about such things, but rather that what is considered implying endorsement in the US and in France are quite different things...