Thanks for the great post, Viet. I find it extremely unfortionate that onXmaps has taken the stance that it owns sole copyright over the data that has been generously submitted by users over the past 15+ years. This data (route grade, height, first ascent, description, etc) can be attributed to so many sources such as the first ascender, guide books, etc. None of this data has been submitted by onXmaps. The multitude of sources this data originated from indicates a desire by climbers to share with it with other climbers.
It's wrong for onXmaps to take on the philosophy they own exclusive right to the data when it exists outside their platform, too.
I hope that Mountain Project / onXmaps realizes this contrasting viewpoint and makes corrections to their actions.
I hope that as a climbing community we can collaborate to build a great collection of route information for the benefit, safety, and growth of the community.
I think you are mistaken when you claim that OpenBeta was a competing product. According to the post, "OpenBeta project provides a free and open source Climbing API, while MountainProject has quietly removed a similar API from their site since its acquisition by onXmaps."
You're correct, I am mistaken about that. But MP's terms of service says they do not allow their data to be used for commercial purposes, and OpenBeta suggests that people can use it for commercial purposes. Seems a clear violation to me.
Thanks for the great post, Viet. I find it extremely unfortionate that onXmaps has taken the stance that it owns sole copyright over the data that has been generously submitted by users over the past 15+ years. This data (route grade, height, first ascent, description, etc) can be attributed to so many sources such as the first ascender, guide books, etc. None of this data has been submitted by onXmaps. The multitude of sources this data originated from indicates a desire by climbers to share with it with other climbers.
It's wrong for onXmaps to take on the philosophy they own exclusive right to the data when it exists outside their platform, too.
I hope that Mountain Project / onXmaps realizes this contrasting viewpoint and makes corrections to their actions.
I hope that as a climbing community we can collaborate to build a great collection of route information for the benefit, safety, and growth of the community.
I presume your lawyers know about the ProCD case - this should be an open and shut case with that precedent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ProCD,_Inc._v._Zeidenberg
OpenBeta scraped the entirety of MP data in order to build a competing product.
MP data is crowd-sourced, but they have to host it, administrate it, etc. Seems very reasonable to me to put up defenses when people attack you.
I think you are mistaken when you claim that OpenBeta was a competing product. According to the post, "OpenBeta project provides a free and open source Climbing API, while MountainProject has quietly removed a similar API from their site since its acquisition by onXmaps."
You're correct, I am mistaken about that. But MP's terms of service says they do not allow their data to be used for commercial purposes, and OpenBeta suggests that people can use it for commercial purposes. Seems a clear violation to me.
Hi Colin, I hope you have read their ToS especially the Ownership section which states "As between you and the Company, you own Your Content"