A Participant in the Web of Platform - Participatory Mapping: New Data, New Cartography - page 47

the many applications it is used for 13 . Because of open
licenses, the main specificity of OSM compared with other
geographical information services is the possibility to re-use
OSM data. Indeed, OSM data are published with an open
license which allows the data to be re-used (the ODbL
license) 14 . By publishing data with this license, OSM
distinguishes itself from most online map providers
(mapping companies, mapping APIs, GIS software and
national mapping institutes) which apply more restrictive
licensing policies.

3.2.3. Between opposition and influence

Over the years, Google has appropriated several of OSM's
operating methods without making its products more
accessible. This has brought about criticism from the open
mapping community. For example, in 2008, Google launched
the service Google Map Makers which allows Web users to
add their own contribution to Google's base map by adding,
for instance, information on a location or modifying a route.
The contribution of Web users is an advantage that allows
Google to access data in particular locations that are difficult
to access (owned privately by services that charge for the
access to data), but also to update existing data.

The ad hoc nature of the participation in creating the
OSM base map also interests Google. As OSM base maps can
be modified by anyone, the work is done according to the
particular interests of each contributing member, as seen in
the Berlin Zoo in a comparison between Google Maps and
OSM 15 . So Google has launched several mapping projects

13 In this sense, the OSM map background is more similar to GIS than to
an API map as it is made up of a georeferenced database, i.e. a structure
in layers with various ad hoc management and drawing tools.
14 Stands for “Open database license”. See: www.openstreetmap.org/

copyright.
15 www.framablog.org/index.php/post/2010/06/06/openstreetmap-zoo-de-
berlin.