Tagging innovations: amenity=retail shops

General talk
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I just noticed there was recently a huge step for a tag that was previously unheard of, used in very few places only, but almost 20k uses:

https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/tags/amenity=retail%20shops

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99.99% of uses tagged with addr:city=서울특별시, that is, Seoul

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1 is here, 13 years old: Way History: ‪north Bukedi cooperative union‬ (‪180566252‬) | OpenStreetMap

Here is some discussion on a changeset in Seoul:

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That appears to be literally the only one outside Seoul.

Per Taginfo, 19 831 total occurences, 19 830 are nodes, 19 830 have addr:city=서울특별시

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IMHO this import went wrong, it shouldn’t introduce / “establish” tags with uncertain meaning that haven’t been used before.

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The title should be adjusted, because the relevant tag isn’t amenity=retail_shops (with underscore), but amenity=retail shops (with space), so it’s an even worse tag value.

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I feel like shop=yes would be a step up over what they used. At least then validators and field editors (like StreetComplete) would prompt for what kind of shop it is.

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I have posted in the Korean forum asking about this Recent import introduced new tag amenity=retail shops in Seoul

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I would like to add my opinion here as well.

  • 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.

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this argument is worth nothing and this people are not qualified to comment on copyright and copyright-related issues

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

disclaimer: I am not a lawyer

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also, I do not see any indication that import was discussed with local community or followed any of steps listed at Import/Guidelines - OpenStreetMap Wiki

I would ask importer to explain things, but it looks like this import can be reverted by anyone without further reason beyond “not discussed import”

(though tripple checking is a good idea before jumping into XXL-sized reverts)

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I am reverting the import now.

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I appreciate your efforts.
Would you mind letting me know once the changes have been completely reverted?

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@woodpeck as far as I can tell it hasn’t been fully reverted as of yet (there are still nodes tagged amenity=retail shops in Seoul), has something gone not to plan?