Magnus Manske wrote:
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