On 21/11/06, Stan Shebs <stanshebs(a)earthlink.net> wrote:
So the problem
here is that the euroskeptic opponent thinks this is
ESA's problem, and that ESA feels it has to go along with this idea.
That is: the problem you're describing is local politics rather than
that open content licences are problematic.
The significant point is that the complaint was taken seriously by
anybody at all. If somebody in the US complained about a NASA photo in a
supermarket ad, even the most timid NASA bureaucrat would feel safe in
showing the letter around the office for a laugh, and then pitching it
into the trash. The bureaucrat knows that even if the complainer somehow
got the attention of a news reporter, it would be for a segment on all
the nutjobs who waste NASA's time.
FWIW, NASA take it seriously enough that they explicitly prohibit it:
"If the NASA material is to be used for commercial purposes,
especially including advertisements, it must not explicitly or
implicitly convey NASA's endorsement of commercial goods or services."
(extract from the copyright notice on
nix.nasa.gov, their main public
photograph archive)
They don't make any statements about political usage, but I suspect
they would be v. cagey were it used to "convey endorsement" in a
similar manner.
I assume the issue is not that Americans don't care about such things,
but rather that what is considered implying endorsement in the US and
in France are quite different things...
--
- Andrew Gray
andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk