[OSGeo-Edu] licensing (or not) edu material

Simon Cropper scropper at botanicusaustralia.com.au
Mon Jul 26 19:32:08 EDT 2010


On Monday 26 July 2010 23:19:08 Charlie Schweik wrote:
> I look forward to hearing Simon's reaction to 
> your responses.

Charlie, Puneet and others,

Boy.... talk about throwing kero on the fire!

My first point is, see this is the big elephant in the corner.

My second point is, licensing can be a major obstacle to release of material 
on the Internet. Maybe it shouldn't be, but it is!

I'll take various peoples swipe at my hypocrisy, but my expectation is that I 
am not all that different than others, it just that I am happy to stand up and 
state my concerns, even when it makes me a target.

Yes, I try and use Free & Open Source Software when ever I am able. At present 
I use Ubuntu as my operating system. Apart from using some restricted codex 
(so I can view files sent by clients) and gvSIG (so I can view ECW files also 
used by clients) I am pretty much FOSS compliant.

Yes, I am creating educational material for release to the public.

Yes, it worries me that the information could be misused, misinterpreted, etc.
  -  I am a scientist. I was trained to collect data, interpret it and write
     reports that are attributed to me (for better or worse). Releasing work
     that I have no control over its use or abuse is totally against my grain.
  -  Putting on my other hat, I am a business man (well I hope I am). I have
     to ensure, as the Director of Botanicus Australia Pty Ltd, that I do not
     expose the company to any undue litigation. Otherwise I could run foul of
     ASIC.

Well, I suppose, those are my hang ups. I understand Puneet's concerns and 
arguments, but as I have stated and tried to explain it is not that simple.

My point is - licensing is an issue restricting the release of educational 
material on the Internet. The meeting should address how this problem can be 
addressed.

Putting it even more simply and personally....

If Public Domain or CC-Zero is the desired license type for educational 
material (and half of me says it is), how do you allay my concerns/fears about 
attribution, moral rights, misuse, minimising risk, etc; because despite 
reading multiple webpages on the subject 'they' are still there.

-- 
Cheers Simon

	Simon Cropper
	Botanicus Australia Pty Ltd
	PO Box 160 Sunshine 3020
	P: 03 9311 5822. M: 041 830 3437
	W: http://www.botanicusaustralia.com.au
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