6th August 2007, 02:52 PM
Quote:quote:Originally posted by John Walford
Quote:quote:Originally posted by kevin wooldridge
Some rumours suggest OS are deliberate in their inaccuracies so as to catch out 'map pirates'.
I believe that this is more than just a rumour. A few years back there was legal dispute between the OS and the AA about plagarism, in which these deliberate errors formed a key part of the evidence. See the press report at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.j...naa08.html
John
I've always treated this as more of a factoid than absolute truth. There are lots of errors in OS maps and I've certainly been caught out in the past by things on the ground not being as depicted on the map.
However, even though the they may have relied on these 'inconsistencies' in court, I think that calling them deliberate is probably a*se covering from the OS. What has to be borne in mind is that a lot of the digitisation from the old paper maps was carried out by poorly-trained data input temps (the same way as other bodies such as utilities), often leading to errors. These are often not obvious unless you measure them on the ground and this is a level of checking even the OS couldn't afford.
PS. Richard - There is an excellent guide to OS grid references on... The OS Website! (http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/)
D. Vader
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Vader Maull & Palpatine
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