Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I can't believe that this is actually copyrighted. How can such a foundational standard not be public domain?

What's next? Copyrighting latitude and longitude?

(China for the record, doesn't want you to know the lat/lon of anything in China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_dat...)



Latitude and longitude are in the public domain, being inventions of the US military.


The idea of latitude and longitude was invented in Greece couple of millennia ago and the first accurate instrument to measure them was invented by the John Harrison, a Brit, before the USA was founded.


Such US-centric thinking reminds me of one of my favourite terms: the USS Titanic.


Hahaha, no.

Why would the 0deg longitude be at the Greenwhich Observatory if the US military invented it???


Is this comment perhaps referring to the WGS84 datum?




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: