EPSG Dataset Rules

[Frank Warmerdam]

Rich,

A number of projects including GDAL, GeoTools, PROJ.4, libgeotiff and
PostGIS use datasets derived by scripts from the EPSG database.  The
EPSG database has the following statement on use:

1) All data pertinent to a specific coordinate reference system must be copied 
without modification and all related pages/records must be included;
2) All components of this data set pertinent to any given coordinate reference 
system must be distributed together (complete distribution of all components 
of the data set is preferred, but the OGP  recognises the need for a more 
limited distribution);
3) The data may not be distributed for profit by any third party; and
4) The original source [OGP] must be acknowledged.
The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this data. 
The data may be copied and distributed subject to the following conditions:
INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF 
ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE 
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
 With regard to (3) above, the data may be included within proprietary 
applications distributed on a commercial basis when the commerciality is based 
on application functionality and not on a value ascribed to the 
freely-distributed EPSG dataset.

I have a few concerns with this set of requirements.

One concern is that technically these derived datasets do not obey item (1)
because many unused fields are omitted. For instance "remarks" fields and
"area of use".

Second, we don't normally obey the requirement that OGP be acknowledged.  But
I think that we can deal with that in much the same way that we need to deal
with other acknowledgement issues, such as the need to include MIT/X copyright
notices in binary releases.

Third, the restriction that the data may not be redistributed for a profit
seems counter to the open source definition.  Note, I can't think of any case
where the EPSG tables themselves are charged for, but of course they are
frequently used as part of paid for products.

I am interested in your opinion on how seriously we need to take these issues.
I would add they reflect down the line to a variety of proprietary products
built on these lists, including pretty much any application using libgeotiff
(ie. must of the remote sensing and gis worlds).

Best regards,
-- 
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGF, http://osgeo.org