Re: Off topic : world database

Oleg Bartunov wrote:
> I don't know if it's legal to use data from
> http://www.nima.mil/gns/html/index.html
> but it's a huge collection of geo data.

It appears to be completely free. I don't work there so this isn't an
official response, but here's one of the questions from their FAQ:

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Q: We are interested in exploring the possibility of adding content from
geonames files to our existing geographical databases. Can we proceed to
download and use files? Is there a cost for this and are there
restrictions on the use to which we can put the data?

A: There is no problem in making the geographic names data freely
available. A suitable citation note is:

Toponymic information is based on the Geographic Names Data Base,
containing official standard names approved by the United States Board
on Geographic Names and maintained by the National Imagery and Mapping
Agency. More information is available at the Maps and Geodata link at
www.nima.mil. The National Imagery and Mapping Agency name, initials,
and seal are protected by 10 United States Code Section 445.

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I would assume that means it's free for any use providing you include
appropriate credits as they suggest.

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Jeff Hoffmann
PropertyKey.com