Daniel Mayer wrote:
PS - the whole idea of copyrights on spatial data
seem to be absurd
to me; how
could anybody claim to *own* any exact digital reproduction of the
street
network for Paris or the exact location and shape of the Zaire River?
And yet
this type of thing is *very* common in the GIS world (but I also
think it is
absurd for people to copyright *natural* DNA sequences and patent their
*natural* products ; I guess I'm weird that way). Argh!
While I basically agree with both notions, I can see that someone
investing money in getting to Zaire and taking precise measurements,
or in sequencing some DNA and determining what it does (broadly
speaking), should get something in return. If the question is no
information vs. information to pay for, the latter is preferable,
IMHO. But, patents are likely the wrong way, and Wikipedians traveling
to Zaire and taking down coordinates would certainly be best :-)
It seems to me that before we get people into the Zaire jungles taking
measurements we should probably take full advantage of available aerial
photographs. :-)
Ec