Recent import introduced new tag amenity=retail shops in Seoul

Communities 한국/조선 (Korea)
,
1

Hello,

About a month ago, about 19000 nodes with tag amenity=retail shops have been introduced in Seoul by user ine63: Changesets by ine63 | OpenStreetMap

The tag amenity=retail shops has not been previously used in OSM and its meaning is unclear to me. Can you investigate and comment on what the objects added actually are? Usually OSM top-level tags do not have spaces in them, but this one does. Should these points be retagged to something else, like maybe shop=yes if the type of shop is unknown? Are the name tags useful to the Korean map? Or are the points perhaps only useful as addresses?

If the data is unclear and appears to be unsalvageable, should this apparent import be reverted?

See also discussion in general forum Tagging innovations: amenity=retail_shops

Thank you!

2

Thank you for the report.
My opinion is as follows.

  • I will set aside the issue regarding the error involving whitespace in the tag.
  • The mapping points you mentioned are not retail shops, but rather service businesses.
  • It seems likely that the data was imported from South Korean local government open data.
  • Unfortunately, the compatibility between South Korea’s open data license (KOGL) and OSM’s ODbL is unclear.
    (Reference: Korea Open Government License - OpenStreetMap Wiki)
  • Moreover, since the source is not cited within the data, it is likely a violation of the original license anyway. (The original license of the data source requires attribution as a mandatory condition.)

Recently, there have been similar cases of importing open data from the South Korean government into OSM. Some people say that there is no issue because the data is licensed under KOGL, which allows free use. However, I personally believe it would be best to consult the Data Working Group (DWG) for a proper judgment.

If you’re asking purely for my opinion, I’m confident that KOGL is not compatible with ODbL.

3

Thank you, I have sent the link to the two threads to DWG (data@openstreetmap.org) and the DWG ticket number is #2025062010000243.

To notify ine63, I have also commented on Changeset: 166453960 | OpenStreetMap with a link to this thread.

If anyone else has information, please contribute.

2 Likes
4

data can be public (in terms of “available on internet” or “made with tax money” or “intended for reuse”) and we may be still not allowed to use it

See Use of CC BY 4.0 licensed data in OpenStreetMap | OpenStreetMap Blog

For example CC-BY-SA 4.0 cannot be used at all (though can be used if we get special license) and CC-BY 4.0 requires at relatively simple waiver.

disclaimer: I am not a lawyer

1 Like
5

Well, I believe the license is safe to use, but the license requires attribution and they didn’t do anything anyway.

Disscutions about 공공누리 제1유형(KOGL Type 1) if you’re interested.

6

@Jarek, did you get any response?

7

I got no response to the changeset comment I linked

To the DWG report I got a response “I am reverting the import now.” from Frederik (same as in the general forum thread)

From spot checks it appears it hasn’t actually been reverted yet, maybe something has gone wrong

1 Like