Can someone who fully understands the licensing model please update osm.wiki/Bing with a section explaining with simple words and examples what OSM contributors *can* and *can not* do with Bing data?

Even if contributors go through osm.wiki/File:Bing_license.pdf I'm not sure it's crystal-clear what the do's and dont's are.

Please remember that for newbies "tracing" and "aerial imagery" may be ambiguous terms, unlike OSM veterans who might have been using this terminology for a while.

I see that my assumption was incorrect. Glad I posted this diary entry then, before I could pollute OSM.

I'll keep street names I can attribute to local knowledge and stop using Bing as a source of street names.

I read a lot about Bing and OSM last night, but I suppose the part that confused me was: "in sum the TOU says: you are only granted rights to use the aerial imagery, you must use the imagery as presented in the API, you cannot modify or edit the imagery, including the copyright and credit notices; you cannot create permanent, offline copies of the imagery, all of your updates to OSM arising out of the application must be shared with OSM, and the OSM map editor must be free to end users" from http://opengeodata.org/microsoft-imagery-details as "it's okay to use anything on the Bing maps", which was obviously a newbie mistake.

Didn't realise "imagery" and "the map" were two completely separate legal entities.

Thanks for catching this!

Thanks for the comments guys.

Yes, I do upload a GPS trace, then convert the whole thing to a way with P2 and then selectively edit out the junk (e.g. when I was dancing around too much because the "trail" was really a puddle)

I added the cliff way - tempted to consider this slightly over the top, but then again I like it when I realise my map has a high level of detail when I want it.

I'll look into the forest boundary stuff. That'll be a first as well, but I'm in learning mode now before the big trip (6 months cycling Chile) and I want to be proficient by then to make the most of the data I'll collect, given the time and tech gear constraints (Internet cafes only...)

Cheers!

Vincent, you're on! I'll definitely give JOSM another try - what would get me started is some task-oriented documentation. I think I'll try the video tutorials. Please also have in mind I'm gearing up my mapping skills in preparation for a roadtrip in South America, so I need to keep my toolkit as slim as possible. Having to count on a mobile version of JOSM for use in Internet Cafes (I won't carry a laptop) is far fiddlier than having Potlatch on demand.

My effort at making P2 more usable to newbies for a single task is here: osm.wiki/Upload_Waypoints