Closure of Bikehike Route Database

cat_with_no_tail

Marko1962 wrote:

KT1973 wrote:

With no tresspass laws as such in Scotland, surely it could carry on, if you offered some kind of disclaimer for safety etc.
It's a real pity if the site has to shut down because I used it all the time and uploaded quite a few routes and found out about good new ones too.

AFAIK it is not being shut down - only the database facility is being shut down so we can still use BH to plot our routes etc just not the abililty to save to the database. We will still be able to save our routes as a gpx/tcx and download them to out PC's...

Correct me if i'm wrong

This sounds about right. As far as I can tell, users are only losing the ability to save routes directly onto the bikehike database. You can still download the routes to your own computer.

Tbh, it's no great loss for me. I use Bikehike all the time, but dont recall ever saving a route on their database.

For those that DID save routes on the Bikehike database, surely you can just save them as GPX to your own computer and then upload them onto the rides section here at Bikeradar instead?

Remember, it's not the fact that someone has told him he IS going to get sued, more that they have told him it may be a possibility that someone could try. Considering this is something that sgc does essentially as a public service (most probably at a net loss financially to himself), why should he take the risk, however remote it may be?

Just my two penneth.

Sgc, Many thanks for taking your own time and knowledge to build such a cracking site. Keep up the good work.

micksjoiner

is it all ready closed

sgc

I am going to get a second legal opinion next week. Will keep you posted.
Simon

Briggo

sgc wrote:

I am going to get a second legal opinion next week. Will keep you posted.
Simon

Good work, dont go getting pushed around by those who can throw around some legal jargon and scare people without the know.

Fedup with this country and all its blame/fault/liability culture we're slowly falling into more and more, we need to fight back with some common freakin sense.

butcher of bakersfield

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Remember, it's not the fact that someone has told him he IS going to get sued, more that they have told him it may be a possibility that someone could try. Considering this is something that sgc does essentially as a public service (most probably at a net loss financially to himself), why should he take the risk, however remote it may be?

That's very true and should be respected I think. Personally I'd continue out of pure stubborness. There's no way I'd let anyone threaten to sue on such ridiculous grounds. But that may well be my downfall...

fcumok

I hope it can continue in it's current form. Only just started using it and it's great for sharing routes between friends. Thanks for a great site btw

ST1234

It's a great shame; many's the time when I've downloaded a couple of MTB routes to my Garmin before visiting an unfamiliar part of the country.

Surely there must be some experts in this area of law, who use and enjoy Bikehike, and could offer some useful advice? (Other than 'Cover Your Ars*')

harry_jones1984

could you not make it a registered users only website, and by signing up you agree to terms & conditions that say anyone using the site is purely at their own risk etc

tjwood

It would be a real shame to lose this feature completely.
Two questions:

1. If necessary would it not be possible to save routes only when logged in, and have them visible only to the user that saved them? So I can see my own routes but nobody else can see them? Surely you can't then be liable for anything as nobody other than the creator of the route could access it.

2. Is money (for general day to day running or legal advice etc) an issue? If so then ask and I'm sure you'd get more donations flowing in.



Also, maybe slightly picky point, but you said: "I have received legal advice that...there is no guarantee against possible litigation as a result of having routes assessible via my website". There is never any guarantee against possible litigation as a result of anything. Anyone could always try to sue you for one of thousands of things you do every day. The problem comes when people estimate the risk of possible litigation to be much bigger than it really is and life grids to a halt as a result - a "chilling effect". I really hope you can avoid that in this case!

freehub

Gutted, I used it to access and share routes all the time, it's so inconvinient downloading routes to the PC to have to open them up in Google earth or something which is inconvenient.

robbarker

Simon,

I think the site is fabulous and the database a fantastic resource.

If legal indemnity insurance might help you manage your risk in running it, I'd be glad to chip in a reasonable amount, and I'm sure that many others would too.

Thanks for your fantastic work to date, and I hope you find a way to keep it running in the future.

(Don't delete robslejog1-9, they're classics!)

Cheers

Rob

(In open forum)

grumsta

tjwood wrote:

It would be a real shame to lose this feature completely.
Two questions:

1. If necessary would it not be possible to save routes only when logged in, and have them visible only to the user that saved them? So I can see my own routes but nobody else can see them? Surely you can't then be liable for anything as nobody other than the creator of the route could access it.

2. Is money (for general day to day running or legal advice etc) an issue? If so then ask and I'm sure you'd get more donations flowing in.



Also, maybe slightly picky point, but you said: "I have received legal advice that...there is no guarantee against possible litigation as a result of having routes assessible via my website". There is never any guarantee against possible litigation as a result of anything. Anyone could always try to sue you for one of thousands of things you do every day. The problem comes when people estimate the risk of possible litigation to be much bigger than it really is and life grids to a halt as a result - a "chilling effect". I really hope you can avoid that in this case!

Whole heartedly agree with all these points.

fletch8928

So we could be hearing more news sometime soon.
I really hope it stays as it was!! I only used it last week to find out how much climbing I had done. I looked up loads of routes last year when going away. Bummer if it loses that search bit.
I dont think I saw an actual reason given, as in why someone may sue. IMO it the other sites coz bikehike is just so easy and nice to use.