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(If my earlier question went through, sorry for double posting, mods please close/delete this)

Today I logged in to OSM to correct a mistake I noticed on the map, and it turns out I can't get the editor to work if I don't enable Javascript from the domain virtualearth.net. This domain apparently belongs to Microsoft. Has OpenStreetMap been bought by Microsoft or something? I would prefer not to run the Virtual Earth layer since I don't use it.

Another annoyance: I had to enable JS for google.com to even post this question. Isn't Google our competitor?

asked 05 Sep '18, 01:16

Rostaman521's gravatar image

Rostaman521
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accept rate: 0%

edited 05 Sep '18, 07:50

aseerel4c26's gravatar image

aseerel4c26 ♦
32.6k18248554

meta: the first attempt did not went through.

Yes, we are aware that loading jquery libs from google is bad (also and for some most importantly privacy-wise), see "Technical background" on wiki.

(05 Sep '18, 07:36) aseerel4c26 ♦

Alas I have nothng to add other than I fully concur with you... H.

(05 Sep '18, 07:36) Herve5

There is a long standing issue to migrate this platform because it is essentially unmaintained https://github.com/openstreetmap/operations/issues/149 IT doesn't make sense to fiddle around with the setup before that has happened.

(05 Sep '18, 09:49) SimonPoole ♦

OSM is kindly allowed to use bing's aerial imagery to trace from it. See wiki. Bing belongs to Microsoft. There are other permitted imagery providers - just see the selection list in your editor.

I (with uMatrix in Firefox) when using the iD editor on the website do not need to allow JS from that domain - just images if I want to see the aerial imagery (of course). If you struggle with the website-builtin editor, just use another editor (e.g. JOSM).

permanent link

answered 05 Sep '18, 07:40

aseerel4c26's gravatar image

aseerel4c26 ♦
32.6k18248554
accept rate: 18%

edited 05 Sep '18, 07:50

1

In general all the background imagery is 3rd party (passive) content (with the exception of the standard style map tiles), and nothing to be concerned about.

(05 Sep '18, 09:51) SimonPoole ♦

I use Pale Moon with NoScript and I get an empty white area where the iD editor is supposed to be. uMatrix 1.1.4 (last XUL version, as Pale Moon doesn't support WebExtensions) doesn't work for me. However, I've tried Potlatch and it works, and it's actually a lot faster than iD.

Edit: I've looked it up and apparently the only thing that's sent to virtualearth.net that's not a tile is https://dev.virtualearth.net/REST/v1/Imagery/Metadata/Aerial?include=ImageryProviders&key=....... which returns a JSON file with some credential and copyright info, and probably functions as some sort of phone home to MS (maybe mandated by the MS licensing agreement?). I wouldn't mind if iD devs implemented a graceful fail here...

(05 Sep '18, 20:13) Rostaman521

@Rostaman521: I have usually not allowed this GET call in uMatrix and iD still works for me, interesting that it does not for you with NoScript. Maybe it is not iD's fault but NoScript's (however)?

Likely it is part of the agreement with MS that they return the original imagery providers to the end-user. This is done by that JSON file (in my case iD displays "© 2018 Microsoft Corporation, © 2018 DigitalGlobe, ©CNES (2018) Distribution Airbus DS" - which matches the contents of the returned JSON file).

"Phone home"? Well, fetching the images is quite enough for MS to know your IP and browser details. I see no additional data benefit for MS in GETing this JSON file. I presume the the GET parameter "key" is same for all iD users (mine starts with "Ar").

Did I already mention that I really, really, recommend JOSM for you? ;-) No Flash plugin, no Java browser plugin (yes, just the JRE please), speed and full fain-grained control for you about everything!

(05 Sep '18, 20:33) aseerel4c26 ♦

@Rostaman521 the sensible approach is not to ask the iD devs to violate bings terms of use, but to simply use one of the other imagery layers.

(05 Sep '18, 21:35) SimonPoole ♦

@SimonPoole I didn't mean that. I meant that I'd like iD to let me edit without showing Bing maps if I disable their domain. Right now this isn't possible. Although, this now seems to be a Pale Moon 27 problem. I just restarted the browser to disable NoScript and enable RequestPolicy, and the same thing happens: no successful request to dev.virtualearth.net, no editor. However, the editor loads fine with virtualearth.net disabled on Firefox 52 ESR.

@aseerel4c26 You're right about phoning home, I suppose that file serves the copyright notice? My key also starts with Arzdiw.....

(06 Sep '18, 19:06) Rostaman521

@Rostaman521: yes, you saw yourself the contents of the JSON file: it is serving the copyright info which is the displayed by iD.

(06 Sep '18, 19:36) aseerel4c26 ♦
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question asked: 05 Sep '18, 01:16

question was seen: 3,769 times

last updated: 06 Sep '18, 19:36

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum