Sasha Maps 2008.07.28 released

[msa...@gmail.com]

Apologies for cross posting, but this is relevant for both GWT and
Google Maps users.

I've recently released a new version of Sasha Maps, my GoogleMaps-like
library written completely in GWT. The main page is at
http://www.maryanovsky.com/sasha/maps/ and you can see a demo
application which uses Google's tiles at http://www.maryanovsky.com/sasha/maps/demo/.

The latest release fixes many bugs and adds standard controls such as
a zoom widget, a scale widget. Full changelog available at
http://www.maryanovsky.com/sasha/maps/changelog.txt


Alexander (aka Sasha) Maryanovsky.

[Sumit Chandel]

Hi Sasha,

This is fantastic. Thanks for sharing your work with us.

By the way, I noticed that the Maps group wasn't included your message's recipient list. In case you haven't already posted this in the Maps group, please feel free to do so.

Cheers,
-Sumit Chandel

[Sumit Chandel]

Hi Sasha,

Although this is cool, it somehow slipped my mind that it's also against the Maps Terms of Service. Specifically, tiles may only be accessed through Google APIs, although you might be able to find tiling providers out there with more liberal licenses.

The current Google API Libraries for GWT (GALGWT) libraries provide a usable binding to the Maps API, but these are just bindings and not a native implementation of the Maps API.

For more information on the Maps ToS, please feel free to post up on the Maps developer forum:

http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API

Thanks,
-Sumit Chandel

[msa...@gmail.com]

> Although this is cool, it somehow slipped my mind that it's also against the
> Maps Terms of Service. Specifically, tiles may only be accessed through
> Google APIs, although you might be able to find tiling providers out there
> with more liberal licenses.

Could you point me to the place where it says so? The Google Maps API
ToS doesn't really apply to Sasha Maps, because they're not using the
Google Maps API.
Either way, I am very respectful of people's copyright and if Google
asks me to remove the demo with Google's tiles, I will do so
immediately.

I did cross-post to the maps group, by the way:
http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API/browse_thread/thread/e5c15000dc4215e9/fe2d0a0f658fc3b8?


Alexander (aka Sasha) Maryanovsky.

[msa...@gmail.com]

Also note that the demo page (for which I have a Google API key) links
to Google's page where the map tiles' owners are listed.
Unfortunately, there is no way to retrieve the copyright owners other
than through the JavaScript API, so I can't display it on the map like
Google Maps does. I would gladly add that if I could.

Both the tutorial and the main page tell the users that they need to
comply with any copyright issues of the maps they're displaying.


Alexander (aka Sasha) Maryanovsky.

On Aug 10, 2:17 pm, "msa...@gmail.com" <msa...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Although this is cool, it somehow slipped my mind that it's also against the

> >MapsTerms of Service. Specifically, tiles may only be accessed through

> > Google APIs, although you might be able to find tiling providers out there
> > with more liberal licenses.
>
> Could you point me to the place where it says so? The GoogleMapsAPI

> ToS doesn't really apply toSashaMaps, because they're not using the

> GoogleMapsAPI.
> Either way, I am very respectful of people's copyright and if Google
> asks me to remove the demo with Google's tiles, I will do so
> immediately.
>

> I did cross-post to themapsgroup, by the way:http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API/browse_thread/thread/e...
>
> Alexander (akaSasha) Maryanovsky.

[Sumit Chandel]

Hi Sasha,

The line restricting direct use of Google Maps images can be found at the link below:

http://code.google.com/apis/maps/faq.html#tos_tiles

However, it's quite possible that I've misinterpreted what your new library is doing. Is your library a thin layer over the existing Maps API? If so, then you are not violating the ToS and you should be fine. However, if you are re-implementing a Google Maps API using GWT (or any other technology) that is making direct use of the Maps tiles, then you are in violation of the Terms of Service.

Can you please clarify the specifics of your new project? As I understand it, it is a re-implementation of the Maps API using GWT, in which case it is breaking the Google Maps terms of service.

Note: I am not a lawyer and cannot give official legal approval or disapproval for anything.

Hope that helps,
-Sumit Chandel

[msa...@gmail.com]

My project is not a re-implementation of Google Maps. It is an
implementation of a library that shares some of the same goals.

The only thing the Google Maps licensing might apply is to my demo
app, but I don't think it does, because I'm not distributing the
tiles. As I said, however, we can argue about it, but it's not a big
issue - if Google asks me to stop using their tiles in the demo app, I
will gladly comply. It's just a demo app... I can easily write a "tile
map server" to use some huge public domain image, or use some publicly
available maps. In fact, I'm working on implementing the OpenGIS WMS
protocol right now.


Alexander (aka Sasha) Maryanovsky.