4 ms·
I really don't think it's a smart move to have a national entity totally depend on a private company that has no plans to make its database freely accessible fo
by rakoo 10y ago
I really don't think it's a smart move to have a national entity totally depend on a private company that has no plans to make its database freely accessible for its operations; the worst being that said private company is foreign, meaning that Mongolia has 0 leverage on how the database will evolve, it is going to be completely at the mercy of What3Words' changes of policy and access rights.
Unless What3Words' database is going to be fully accessible with no restrictions for everyone, this really looks like a bad idea.
- maxerickson 10y agoThey can just appropriate the information. I guess they might have to break some treaties or something to do that, but a country isn't going to be beholden to a small foreign company for much of anything.
- themihai 10y agoTPP could change that
- oh_sigh 10y agoFairly certain neither Mongolia nor Britain are involved in the TPP
- criley2 10y agoBritain is party to TTIP, very similar. Mongolia has expressed limited sentiments towards joining TPP but they try to remain neutral between the various regional and global factions, and being a member of TPP could irritate their Russian and Chinese partners.
- oh_sigh 10y agoTTIP is similar, but you might as well just say TTIP if you mean TTIP and not TTP. Also, even if the UK is partner, Mongolia certainly can't be, at least to this particular partnership.
- creshal 10y ago> a country isn't going to be beholden to a small foreign company for much of anything. Mongolia depends on foreign aid. They'll think thrice before angering Uncle Sam, justified or no.
- maxerickson 10y agoWhat3Words is incorporated in the UK. I don't disagree with what you are getting at, but there is a difference between it being in their best interests to maintain their relationships and the company having enormous leverage over them. I think even if What3Words were a US company, the US gov. wouldn't do a whole lot about it if Mongolia just decided to stop paying them and use the locations anyway.
- plumeria 10y agoTheir patent does not apply to Mongolia, right? https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO14%2F170646&recNum=1&tab=NationalPhase&maxRec=&office=&prevFilter=&sortOption=&queryString= https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO14...
- alcio 10y agoThe process to get the words from the coordinates is described in their patent https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO14%2F170646&recNum=1&tab=PCTClaims https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO14.... From the equations, it's possible to reverse the wordlist.
- joe_the_user 10y agoThat the process to get the word is patented doesn't seem like it would allay worries of the country becoming dependent on the company.
- Retric 10y agoCountries can ignore patents. US DoD for example has a long history of this and they can also just flat out classifying patents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_Secrecy_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention_Secrecy_Act
- pc2g4d 10y agoI completely agree. Seems like the underlying technology wouldn't be that difficult to reimplement independently, or am I mistaken? Surely a few CS interns in Mongolia would be up for slapping together a vital national infrastructure project on the government's dime, eh?
- sllabres 10y agoYes, and the used names have changed at least once in the past.