On Tue, Dec 30, 2014 at 7:37 AM, Adam Martin <s.adam.mar...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I was reading over the previous discussions held here regarding the issue of > obtaining postal codes for use with civic addresses in Canada. I understand > that, unless specific permission is obtained, there is no way to utilize the > information stored in the Canada Post database, even if that information is > manually acquired from the database during a lookup. > > Anyway, it would appear that obtaining the information from Canada Post is, > basically, a dead end. Might I suggest an alternative? Why not a volunteer > effort? I can't look up a code and reproduce it on the map, but I can surely > put my own postal code and those of my previous addresses into the map. That > knowledge has nothing to do with looking it up on their website. Here's where I have a hard time understanding how postal code information can ever be used in OSM. Who created the postal code information? The information can't be traced back to farmer Brown who lived on this lane in 1642, hence the road name "Brown Lane". I believe Canada Post created the database, and defines which areas are within the bounds of a particular forward sortation area, local delivery unit. They can change these bounds as necessary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_codes_in_Canada Since OSM can't use any restricted information sources, and must rely on non-encumbered information, how can Canada Post postal code information ever be considered "common knowledge" or "open data"? If you look up my postal code, and put it on an envelope, when I receive that letter, and see my postal code, does it suddenly become public knowledge, and Canada Post loses the right to maintain control? If I print out a Google Map, and hand you that copy, does the Google Map data become non-encumbered? The only way to know the postal code for any specific location is to have at one point referenced the Canada Post database, either directly, or indirectly. Road names, town names etc. can be argued to precede the map databases in a number of cases, and have a legal right to be used. In current towns and cities, when the planners make up road names, it could be thought of that the designers hold the copyright on the road name database (if asserted). I don't see where a completely contrived database of information that is created and controlled by an entity which asserts copyright will ever be able to be used in an unencumbered manner, no matter how many times removed from accessing the database the data is derived. The idea of each person in Canada providing their specific postal code to an OSM database does not remove the hold which Canada Post asserts. It would be illegal for one person to copy the database as a whole, so why would it be legal for >30 million people to copy one piece of the database and pool that information? I love the idea of OSM and would like to see all data available and in use in the OSM database, but I've always had a hard time figuring out the line of distinction between encumbered and unencumbered information sources. James VE6SRV _______________________________________________ Talk-ca mailing list Talk-ca@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-ca