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Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by tantalor on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:08PM (#50432955)
Only one person has to pay for it, then they can share it with the rest of us for free. It's not like the data is trade secret or protected by copyright or patent. It's public data.
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by sillysaurusx on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:14PM (#50433031)
I vote you pay for it and share it with us for free.

(Or start a gofundme for it.)

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by firesteelrain on Monday November 09, 2026 @09:11PM (#50435226)
They could host a Webservice like a Google map I suppose but can’t give away the raw data
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by IggleSniggle on Monday November 09, 2026 @09:21PM (#50435298)
Derived data is not allowed
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by MadrasThorn on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:25PM (#50433159)
You wouldn't steal from the post office would you?
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by jakeydus on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:26PM (#50433180)
You wouldn't download a car.
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by chaosharmonic on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:39PM (#50433290)
You especially wouldn't download one of those old postal vehicles.
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by Loughla on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:45PM (#50433367)
I legit tried to get one of those new. They're practically indestructible and have shit tons of storage. They would be awesome get arounds on the farm. If they were AWD or 4wd, I would give my left leg for it.

Sadly, you cannot, from what I can tell.

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by MadrasThorn on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:56PM (#50433511)
I'd buy one. USPS could get into the large storage and moving business.
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by 6SixTy on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:56PM (#50433513)
Those old postal vehicles were made from the GM parts bin with a custom shell built to spec, though most of them were from the S-10 platform. They are not indestructible, the USPS started scrambling to buy COTS vehicles while the NGDV was in development.

The S-10 itself is a really good farm truck though, so I'd keep your eyes on the market for one. Or maybe the equivalent Ford one.

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by davkan on Monday November 09, 2026 @06:32PM (#50433897)
Old Toyotas are indestructible as well and oem parts are readily available.
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by Loughla on Monday November 09, 2026 @06:52PM (#50434107)
We had a 1991 s10 for years. I didn't realize that's what that was based on.

I'd like to have a Hilux, because the Tacoma isn't as good but that's just not an option here.

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by toast0 on Monday November 09, 2026 @07:09PM (#50434299)
> If they were AWD or 4wd, I would give my left leg for it.

I assume you're talking about the LLV?

I had thought the post office bought a small number of 4x4 LLVs, but I don't see anything about it on wikipedia, so probably not. That said, maybe you could bodge something together from S-10 4x4 parts? (wikipedia says the rear axle is from the 4x4 s-10 blazer and the front axle is from the 2x4 blazer ... it might not be easy, but it's probably not impossible to grab a 4x4 front axle and stuff it in... )

I've read that the post office doesn't sell their old ones, but they weren't the only buyer and some of the other buyers do sell them.

Wikipedia does say the NGDV comes in all wheel drive. Although yeah, probably hard to buy a new one.

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by rootusrootus on Monday November 09, 2026 @07:59PM (#50434693)
[delayed]
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by kotaKat on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @04:52AM (#50438100)
"I have heard it claimed that they are not DOT compliant which prevents them from being sold to the public"

For the very small bit of time (as you mentioned) - the Commercial Long Life Vehicle, or CLLV: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hugo90/33789231153

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by jakeydus on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:57PM (#50433522)
I'd take one of the old right-hand-drive two-door jeeps in a second, though.
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by 6SixTy on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:35PM (#50433264)
>USPS® ZIP Code Boundaries - Publication

>Four quarterly updates with limited publication.

Sharing it with everyone is probably going to get you banned from getting quarterly updates, as there's strings attached. Though I do wonder just how they keep track. Are they fingerprinting the data somehow? Does that make the dataset less useful?

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by __MatrixMan__ on Monday November 09, 2026 @06:33PM (#50433902)
One person per quarter I suppose.
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by neuronexmachina on Monday November 09, 2026 @09:10PM (#50435216)
Oof:

>Each Party acknowledges and agrees that a breach or threatened breach by LICENSEE of any of its obligations under this Agreement would cause the LICENSOR irreparable harm for which monetary damages would not be an adequate remedy and agrees that, in the event of such breach or threatened breach, the LICENSOR will be entitled to equitable relief, including a restraining order, an injunction, specific performance, and any other relief that may be available from any court, without any requirement to post a bond or other security, or to prove actual damages or that monetary damages are not an adequate remedy. Such remedies are not exclusive and are in addition to all other remedies that may be available at law, in equity, or otherwise

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by manarth on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @03:58AM (#50437745)

  > "Does that make the dataset less useful?"
Maps have a lengthy history of including "Trap streets" to identify copies.

Changing the value of the least-significant decimal place for a couple of points in a polygon is unlikely to significantly change the shape or reduce the accuracy so significantly that it reduces the value of the data.

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by skeeter2020 on Monday November 09, 2026 @05:44PM (#50433356)
The data does change though, and I wouldn't be surprised if at this boutique subscription pricing it's individually fingerprinted
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by aidenn0 on Monday November 09, 2026 @06:34PM (#50433918)
> LICENSEE shall use the Database and Data for the Permitted Use only and shall not disclose, release, distribute, or deliver the Database or Data, any portion of the Data or Database, or any other information derived from the Data or Database to any third party without LICENSOR's prior written consent. For the avoidance of doubt, LICENSEE may incorporate the Data into the products or services listed in Exhibit B (ZCB Order Form), as allowed by Exhibit D (ZIP Code Boundaries Tiers of Access and Usage), but no Data either in whole or in part may be transferred or sold by LICENSEE.

https://postalpro.usps.com/ZCB_License

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by tantalor on Monday November 09, 2026 @10:03PM (#50435566)
No problem, I'll just cross that part out before I sign it.
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by labcomputer on Monday November 09, 2026 @10:49PM (#50435822)
Sooo... You can't compel the government to create a document or data as part of FOIA, but...

You can request any already-existing dataset (which this now is). And they're required to charge only reasonable duplication costs and respond in a timely manner... And such FOIA response would not come with the same restrictive license.

Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by btown on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @07:53AM (#50439642)
As another commenter noted, the USPS has a unique exception to FOIA when it comes to commercially valuable data, which this is almost by definition: https://www.21cpw.com/the-law-has-two-exemptions-that-usps-f...
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by ChrisRR on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @06:26AM (#50438807)
Not if they want to use it for commercial purposes. You can't just use pirated data freely in a company
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by jkahrs595 on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @07:26AM (#50439356)
That’s the neat part, you can
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by ChrisRR on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @08:54AM (#50440399)
Not legally you can't
Re:USPS now offers official ZIP Code boundary polygons by autoexec on Tuesday November 10, 2026 @04:57PM (#50446864)
You can if you're an AI company