Re:Mapping the World
by rmc on Thursday January 08, 2015 @04:18AM
(#8855596)
If you draw polygons based on what you see on Google Maps (or any other copyrighted map), your polygons might be found to be a derived work of the original Google Map.
Otherwise, you could just trace all the roads on Google Maps to make your own $BLAH Maps, that's obviously not legal.
Re:Mapping the World
by alex_duf on Wednesday January 07, 2015 @04:47PM
(#8853520)
I'm surprised they didn't even mention openstreetmap. I know airbnb is a for profit company but most likely neighborhoods and oceans are already mapped. (Europe is particularly well mapped)
Re:Mapping the World
by jpatokal on Wednesday January 07, 2015 @07:21PM
(#8854269)
OSM's convoluted licensing might expose them to the "risk" of having to contribute back their contributions though, plus (if they try to keep in sync) run the risk of others' changes running roughshod over their finely tuned model. This way they retain full control.
Re:Mapping the World
by dbaupp on Thursday January 08, 2015 @01:47AM
(#8855283)
It doesn't seem that they will have to contribute them back, just possibly, use the same license (which is possibly equivalent/just as bad):
> You are free to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt our data, as long as you credit OpenStreetMap and its contributors. If you alter or build upon our data, you may distribute the result only under the same licence. The full legal code explains your rights and responsibilities.
Although IANAL, and it's not clear to me if rendering an independent set of data on top of the unchanged OSM data layer (i.e. effectively render two maps, on with some transparent sections) counts as building on top of the OSM database. So maybe they wouldn't even need to use the ODbL for their own data.
Re:Mapping the World
by rmc on Thursday January 08, 2015 @07:05AM
(#8856023)
it's not clear to me if rendering an independent set of data on top of the unchanged OSM data layer (i.e. effectively render two maps, on with some transparent sections) counts as building on top of the OSM database
If you render OSM data with a unique map style, and produce an image, then you have made a "Produced Work" and you only have to attribute OSM, and nothing else. You can make it so people can't copy it if you'd like.
If you make a new database by combing OSM with something else, that new DB is ODbL.
Just showing something on top of OSM doesn't mean it's derived from OSM.
Re:Mapping the World
by rmc on Thursday January 08, 2015 @04:16AM
(#8855593)
The absolute worst the OSM licence would require would be to allow people to download and distribute your dataset under ODbL. You are not required to enter it into the OSM database. At an absolute worst, you can maintain, and fully control the data, in this (ODbL licenced) dataset, without any worry of anyone changing it.
Re:Mapping the World
by mtmail on Wednesday January 07, 2015 @04:21PM
(#8853383)
Love it. I hope they're able to publish the data. If only parts of it are generated using Google Maps data (see the 'create' feature in the screenshots) then they wouldn't because it's derived work.
Re:Mapping the World
by untog on Wednesday January 07, 2015 @06:29PM
(#8854043)
Just using NYC, the Zillow data isn't perfect. But then, the larger point is that no-one even agrees what these different neighbourhoods are anyway, so it's very difficult to come up with a definitive data set.
Re:Mapping the World
by rmc on Thursday January 08, 2015 @04:14AM
(#8855587)
It looks like it's distributed under a CC-BY-SA licence. OSM actually changed from CC-BY-SA licence to ODbL because it didn't look like that CC licence is suitable for geo databases like OSM ( read more: http://www.osmfoundation.org/wiki/License/We_Are_Changing_Th... ).
It would have to be relicenced (which I presume would not be a problem since ODbL is spiritually very similar to CC-BY-SA). But as maxerikson mentions it's not clear that it should be in OSM
Re:Mapping the World
by maxerickson on Wednesday January 07, 2015 @05:45PM
(#8853855)
Zillow would have to grant additional permission, OpenStreetMap only accepts data under rather liberal terms (because then changing the distribution license does not have to be a debacle).
"Fuzzy" boundaries are also sort of controversial (i.e., there are more than 0 people who will always speak against them).
Re:Mapping the World
by zirkonit on Wednesday January 07, 2015 @04:18PM
(#8853373)
Nothing particularly special, every travel startup has some internal DB/toolset to (re)create proper geoschema.
Front-end tooling is pretty nice, though; I believe content editors' productivity using AT-AT is much higher than using some of the tools I've written :)
Re:Mapping the World
by mandeepj on Wednesday January 07, 2015 @09:02PM
(#8854638)
>When you’re exploring new places to experience, Airbnb Neighborhoods combines local editorial content with the handy, need-to-know information alongside professional photos to explore a place without having to leave your chair.
I see a conflict here. How can you explore a place without leaving your chair? (pun-intended)
How about before all this NLP mumbo jumbo they do something useful like simply let users sort by price, like every other hotel site. Or, you know, fix the rampant bugs.
Otherwise, you could just trace all the roads on Google Maps to make your own $BLAH Maps, that's obviously not legal.
> You are free to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt our data, as long as you credit OpenStreetMap and its contributors. If you alter or build upon our data, you may distribute the result only under the same licence. The full legal code explains your rights and responsibilities.
http://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright
Although IANAL, and it's not clear to me if rendering an independent set of data on top of the unchanged OSM data layer (i.e. effectively render two maps, on with some transparent sections) counts as building on top of the OSM database. So maybe they wouldn't even need to use the ODbL for their own data.
If you render OSM data with a unique map style, and produce an image, then you have made a "Produced Work" and you only have to attribute OSM, and nothing else. You can make it so people can't copy it if you'd like.
If you make a new database by combing OSM with something else, that new DB is ODbL.
Just showing something on top of OSM doesn't mean it's derived from OSM.
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Legal_FAQ
Here is Flickr equivalent http://code.flickr.net/2008/10/30/the-shape-of-alpha/ (downloadable). Foursquare also does similar work.
[edit: sorry, I thought Airbnb was analyzing listing data to find the extends of neighborhoods. They don't seem to do that.]
It would have to be relicenced (which I presume would not be a problem since ODbL is spiritually very similar to CC-BY-SA). But as maxerikson mentions it's not clear that it should be in OSM
"Fuzzy" boundaries are also sort of controversial (i.e., there are more than 0 people who will always speak against them).
Front-end tooling is pretty nice, though; I believe content editors' productivity using AT-AT is much higher than using some of the tools I've written :)
I see a conflict here. How can you explore a place without leaving your chair? (pun-intended)