[MG] Google Maps lock-in

[Michael Allan]

conseo wrote:
> What do you think? Do you want to have Google services available and
> if so for which concrete use cases?

As crossforum administrator, I'll abide by whatever you folks decide.

A couple of things I can do in advance: I can make the default
rendering (Google or Mapnik or whatever) a config option for admins.
I can also make the user's runtime choice (the rendering you see by
default) persistent through cookies.  These changes should be easy
enough to code.

Later, I'll allow the admin to remove map renderings from the choice
list entirely.  So he could scratch Google if he needed to.  This is
slightly more difficult.  I'll put this off till we decide we
definitely need it (or someone else codes it - that's cool).

-- 
Michael Allan

Toronto, +1 416-699-9528
http://zelea.com/


> having discussed with Mike about the usage of Google services in Crossforum, I 
> have had a look at the terms of usage directly linked on the Google mapper on 
> Crossforum:
> 
> http://www.google.com/intl/de-DE_US/help/terms_maps.html
> 
> ...
> 3. Appropriate Conduct; Compliance with Law and Google Policies.  You agree 
> that you are responsible for your own conduct and content  while using the 
> Products, and for any consequences thereof. You agree to  use the Products 
> only for purposes that are legal, proper and in  accordance with the Terms and 
> any applicable policies or guidelines  Google may make available. By way of 
> example, and not as a limitation,  you agree that when using the Products or 
> the Content, you will not:
> (a) defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the  legal 
> rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others;
> (b) upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any 
> inappropriate, defamatory, obscene, or unlawful content;
> (c) upload, post, transmit or otherwise make available any content that  
> infringes any patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret or other  proprietary 
> right of any party, unless you are the owner of the rights,  or have the 
> permission of the owner or other legal justification to use  such content;
> (d) upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available messages  that 
> promote pyramid schemes, chain letters, or disruptive commercial  messages or 
> advertisements;
> (e) upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any other  
> content, message, or communication prohibited by applicable law, the  Terms or 
> any applicable Product policies or guidelines;
> (f) download any file posted by another that you know, or reasonably should 
> know, cannot be legally distributed in such manner;
> (g) impersonate another person or entity, or falsify or delete any  author 
> attributions or proprietary designations or labels of the origin  or source of 
> Content, software or other material;
> (h) restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Products or 
> Google services;
> (i) interfere with or disrupt Google services or servers or networks  
> connected to Google services, or disobey any requirements, procedures,  
> policies or regulations of networks connected to Google services;
> (j) use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other  device 
> to retrieve or index any portion of the Google services or  Content, or 
> collect information about users for any unauthorized  purpose;
> (k) submit content that falsely expresses or implies that such content is 
> sponsored or endorsed by Google;
> (l) create user accounts by automated means or under false or fraudulent 
> pretenses;
> (m) promote or provide instructional information about illegal activities;
> (n) promote physical harm or injury against any group or individual; or
> (o) transmit any viruses, worms, defects, Trojan horses, or any items of a 
> destructive nature.
> ...
> 5. Additional Terms for Google Earth.
> (a) Export Restrictions. The Google Earth software is subject to United  
> States export controls. By using the Google Earth software, you agree to  use 
> the software only for purposes that are legal, proper and in  accordance with 
> these Terms. Specifically, you agree to comply with all  applicable export and 
> reexport control laws and regulations, including  the Export Administration 
> Regulations ("EAR")  maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and trade 
> and economic  sanctions maintained by the Treasury Department's Office of 
> Foreign  Assets Control.
> 
> This locks us seriously in and makes us more than vulnarable to legal attacks 
> or restricting the service in a situation of conflict. There is no way to 
> ensure that we cannot be attacked by that broad terms when we provide an 
> international service (Crossforum).
> 
> I propose that we avoid using proprietary web services for our infrastructure 
> completely and make them opt-in if(!) there is no similar free replacement. 
> This also ensures that we can bend our solutions to our liking later-on by 
> hacking upstream. Single vote server projects embedded in the network of 
> course can still decide on their own, but we don't need it in Crossforum or 
> any of the common network infrastructure imo.
> 
> What do you think? Do you want to have Google services available and
> if so for which concrete use cases?



Originally posted to the mailing list of the Metagovernment Project:
http://metagovernment.org/mailman/listinfo/start_metagovernment.org