First Google Maps Hack Takedown 325
An anonymous reader writes "Despite "users accelerating innovation" with Google Maps the 'hacks' are not immune from Google's legal team, who have taken down "Google Wallpapers for violating the terms of agreement.
From a quick skim through the terms it would seem that most sites using the Google Maps data are in violation. Are Chicago Crime and Google Sightseeing next to go?" It may be a shame to shut down Google Maps offshoots, but that has to be the nicest take-down note I've ever seen; it's polite, friendly and reasonable. Update: 06/08 21:22 GMT by T : Below, a few more of the current uses for Google Maps.
An anonymous reader submits "The AP is running a story about the multiple uses for Google Maps. Among the uses, Tracking sexual predators in Florida, Guiding travelers to the cheapest gas nationwide, Pinpointing $1,500 studio apartments for rent in Manhattan, and Finding crime in Chicago. It'll be interesting to see if Google allows these sites to remain online or not."
Getting Google Takedowns with Google... (Score:5, Interesting)
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:lNdeCgLHUdwJ:l
Get it while its still there!
That is friendly, (Score:5, Interesting)
1. Lawyers
2. Due Dates
3. Use of the word "compliance"
4. Use of the word "further action"
5. Nice invitation to a developers conference.
I'll take that over the
Interesting wording (Score:5, Interesting)
Tough call (Score:2, Interesting)
That being said, I think there is a lot of potential for other uses of Google Maps, and hopefully at some point, Google will allow some sort of licenses for use other than personal.
Clearly Derivative (Score:1, Interesting)
The gMail invite spooler's been shut down, too (Score:1, Interesting)
I'm surprised Google let others leech like this (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Interesting wording (Score:2, Interesting)
I would additionally wonder if the satellite views are subject to a different license (for Google) than the roadmaps.
I must admit that making large standalone images from the satellite views does, in fact, seem notably different than most of the other homebrew Googlemap sites out there, which may be why this particular site recieved this letter while the others didn't.
But who knows... maybe this is just the start.
Anyone else see a pattern? (Score:2, Interesting)
MPAA has website shut down, asserting their intellectual property rights = Gestapo
Re:Google Maps are awfully distorted anyway (Score:3, Interesting)
Google [google.com]
Yahoo [yahoo.com]
MapQuest [mapquest.com]
The reason Google is distorted is because the satellite image matches with the road maps. The satellite isn't nearly as far north as it would need to be to properly take the images it has. It is closer to the horizon so it gives a distorted looking image. Google most likely distorts the maps on purpose.
Re:Tough call (Score:5, Interesting)
Software publishers (I've never tried to contact a BSA publisher) and other independent media publishers are usually delighted to make a deal; often, even for free, or with a small percentage kickback if you're doing something for-profit.
I'm glad Google has decided to side with the independents instead of the corporate behemoths on their treatment of individuals in this case, and actually acknowledge that corporations share the world with individual human beings.
server side vs. client side... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Google Maps are awfully distorted anyway (Score:2, Interesting)
What they've done is picked a reasonable average for this distance over the area they cover (North America and the UK), then projected the map so this distance equals the same number of pixels over the whole map. This way they don't need to resort to trig functions in their Javascript.
Re:Nicest Shut down? (Score:3, Interesting)
Nah (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Google Sightseeing? (Score:3, Interesting)
Now, if it was taking pictures of *inside* your house, you might have an issue.
Re:This is what I get: (Score:4, Interesting)
Yep, necessary (Score:3, Interesting)
It's very necessary. Consider:
Things google could have done: 1) sued. 2) threatened to sue until you settled for $3000 (yeah, I'm talking to you DirecTV!). 3) Claimed rights they don't actually have 4) contacted his ISP and gotten him shut down.
Things google actually did: 1) asked him respectfully and nicely to stop. 2) provided a legitimate reason for the same.
I've never seen a C&D that friendly. Style makes a big difference in things like that, and shows that google "gets it" and isn't throwing their weight around needlessly.
Re:Actually, yes (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Paging the fanboys... (Score:3, Interesting)
If you use a third party client to connect to the AOL IM network, on the other hand, you're not seeing any of AOL's terms of use - so how can you be bound by them? As a legal matter, it's fairly clear that you're not. This is why AOL tries to block third party clients technically rather than legally.
Re:Yep, necessary (Score:3, Interesting)