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As they say.. "Cho lang mai kwai lan.. lang bi ler ko ka kwai lan" Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetdirectory.com Use of litigation Since early 2004, Streetdirectory.com has gained prominence in several of its owner's successful legal action against schools and small and medium enterprises for what they see as unauthorised use of its maps. This is after Virtual Map has also won landmark cases against larger enterprises such as NTUC Income[1][2] and Suncool International, with the former's damages waived[1] and the latter's appeal being subsequently dismissed.[3][4] Its owner is known to have hired an IT firm to conduct investigations aggressively against the unlicensed use of their maps on other websites,[1] and most of the defendants contacted by Virtual Map's legal team claim that they were not aware that doing so constitutes a copyright infringement. Nevertheless, they were liable for damages and lawyers subsequently warned of this fact in the local media.[1][2] The justification given by Virtual Map was that enough skill and effort was made in using SLA data to create maps that the company can claim its own independent copyright to,[3] and suffered from a loss of potential profit when businesses reproduced their maps online without paying any licensing fees. Such use constituted, as Virtual Map claims, infringement of the Copyright Law and has angered existing clients who have legally paid to license their maps.[1] This position was endorsed by the High Court of Singapore, which gave Virtual Map the green light[3] to send cease and desist letters to hundreds of companies and organisations who have used the maps on their websites in a similar manner, demanding that they either pay up to $10,000 or more, or to face legal action.[4] In most cases matters were settled out of court.[1][2] [edit] SLA v. Virtual Map In October 2006, Virtual Map became embroiled in a civil suit against the ex-provider, Singapore Land Authority (SLA), a statutory board under the Singapore Ministry of Law.[5] Until July 2004, Singapore Land Authority (SLA) provided digitised data to Virtual Map non-exclusively under seven agreements that the latter has signed, and claims that the latter has infringed SLA's copyright by continually selling and redistributing its maps even after the expiration of the agreements.[6][7] The statutory board is currently seeking damages, an injunction to prevent further use of the data by Virtual Map, an order to disclose its client's list and addresses, and to destroy all copies of the infringing material.[6] In its defence, Virtual Map has reiterated that its works have been sufficiently original, an argument which held in Suncool's unsuccessful appeal against the company.[3] The defendant has also claimed that SLA has obtained information from other agencies that it did not own.[8] On the second day of the trial, three SLA employees took the stand to testify that Virtual Map has copied "SLA's skeleton", which has been the "hard work, skill, labour and money invested by the government", and pointed out several irregularities in Virtual Map's work.[9] The trial began on 8 January 2007. SLA has since set up an alternative website that allows non-commercial users to download its maps for free.[5] Eight months later on 7 August 2007, a district court ruled that Virtual Map's online maps on streetdirectory.com had breached SLA's copyright. District Judge Thian Yee Sze also held that Virtual Map should stop "dealing in maps which are reproductions of SLA's street directory vector data and address point vector data", and further ordered an inquiry into the damages due to SLA. Lawyers from Drew & Napier represented SLA, while Virtual Map was defended by counsel from Rodyk & Davidson.[10] Streetdirectory.com lost its subsequent appeal on the decision, but it did not affect the earlier legal settlements against hundreds of businesses and organisations. However, it had to also temporarily shut down its website to replace its map data.[11][12]

? There was a function where you put a Start point and End point and it'll plot a route for you. It's not very good, but I use it to make sure that some route I want to take doesn't turn out to be one-way street. What happened to it? I can't seem to find it anymore....

Just discovered that its up and running again

http://www.streetdirectory.com/

TIME to change your bookmark. A slew of new online maps are now providing directions for users in Singapore - without putting them on the wrong side of any copyright law. The new kid on the block is StreetDB.com, a joint venture between two local firms: Agis, a map solutions provider, and property portal SingaporeExpats.com. It was launched last month. Maps on StreetDB.com are free for personal and non-commercial use. Companies, on the other hand, pay a fee - starting from $250 a year - to replicate its maps on their websites. The timing was uncanny - in April, the once-popular Streetdirectory.com was taken down following a High Court order as its maps were found to have infringed Singapore Land Authority's copyrights. Many users were initially left with poor alternatives. But no longer. A worthy rival can be found in StreetDB.com, which maintained that its site is the culmination of a year's planning. Like the previous maps at Streetdirectory.com, StreetDB.com allows users to search a location by postal code or building or street names. Users can check - among other things - where a nearby bus stop is, the bus numbers in service and where the closest ATM machines and cinemas are. Those looking for driving directions will also be pleased. Once users enter the start and end points of their journey on StreetDB.com, they will get detailed instructions - in separate, thumbnail-sized maps - at every turn with distance estimates. Last month, StreetDB.com clocked 96,800 visitors and 465,000 page views. But the drawback of the portal is that users will not be able to see some commercial buildings and private estates. For instance, a search for "The Hillside" at Upper Bukit Timah Road shows only a mark over where the condominium is located. There is no building or shape that denotes the condominium site. A search for "210 Turf Club Road" also shows a scanty map of the area, which now houses rows of used-car showrooms. Agis recognises the limitations of its product, but said this problem will go away in six months. "We are in talks with the Singapore government on a licensing deal to plug information gaps in our maps," said Sunny Lim, director of Agis. The eight-year-old firm currently supplies mapping solutions to mobile handset makers like Samsung, Asus and WMG, as well as global positioning system (GPS) device makers Packard Bell and Alpine Electronics. Its maps are updated as often as once a week by a team of 10 people here, including those who rasterise graphics (convert an image into points on a grid). At the very least, every part of Singapore is surveyed once every six months. Other online directories Rednano.sg Launched in mid-March, this online street directory features maps that allow users to zoom and pan. Its maps are licensed from V3 Teletech, a reseller of Singapore Land Authority's (SLA) data. Search by postal code, building or street names. Drivers looking for directions to get from point A to B can choose whether they want the quickest or the shortest routes. The quickest route is calculated based on the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) traffic information - displayed on a left navigation panel on the map section of the Rednano.sg site. Traffic conditions are updated every 15 minutes. The quickest route is probably the most expensive as it may involve going through several road toll gantries as speed is the main criteria of the search. The shortest route search, by default, avoids road toll gantries as much as possible. This route is calculated based on distance and the number of traffic lights. StreetMap@Singapore This site is operated by the SLA (www.map.gov.sg/streetmap). It is the most updated where buildings and roads are concerned. This is because SLA gets instant feedback from other government agencies like the Buildings and Construction Authority and the Land Transport Authority on new roads and buildings. But the site is not intuitive. A search for "210 Turf Club Road" or "Turf Club Road" shows no results. But a search for "The Hillside" yields a comprehensive map of the area. The site is also a tad slow. [/color]Google Maps Here, (maps.google.com) you will also find driving directions. Its plus points are ease of use and openness. Unlike other online options, Google's application programming interfaces (APIs) are open. Because of that, anyone can add meaning to its maps by creating mash-ups that combine data from multiple sources. The result: a customised map product for users of similar interests. A good example of a Google Maps mash-up is SinGeo (www.singeo.com.sg). Users can view even esoteric data like dengue hot spots, off-road bike trails and free Wi-Fi zones overlaid on the map of Singapore. But most buildings are not reflected. GPS Is Better

Virtual Map shuts down street directory site after losing suit By Chua Hian Hou POPULAR online map StreetDirectory.com has shut down, after the company behind it, Virtual Map, lost its appeal against the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) over copyright infringement last week. The SLA, which originally issued Virtual Map a licence for its maps of Singapore, sued the company in January 2007 for continuing to use the SLA maps even after the licence had expired. Virtual Map lost it case in the District Court, and was ordered to stop using the infringing materials. It appealed to the High Court, but lost again. The site was taken down two days ago, said Virtual Map's managing director Firdhaus Akbar, but the company is currently working with a set of replacement, non-infringing maps, and hopes to bring the site back online in 'about two days'. The are based on its own surveys, he said. The company also intends to appeal to the highest court, the Court of Appeal, to reverse the decision, he said. An audibly bitter Mr Ackbar, who was interviewed over the phone, said the privately-held company is calling a shareholders meeting either on Friday or Saturday to assess its position. The meeting will decide whether to continue to provide what he claimed were 'the best maps in Singapore', or quit the business here and 'focus our efforts elsewhere'. Virtual Map also offers online maps in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. Mr Ackbar said his company has spent 'millions' putting in value-added data like points-of-interest, on top of the maps SLA had provided. Alternative online maps are available at sites like the SLA's StreetMap and Show Nearby. http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/...13.html?vgnmr=1 Personally I think Virutal maps deserves it, they were suing quite a number of small companies and people for using their maps and charging licenses from USD2700 per map

Dear Users We apologise that we

First, they said bear with them for maintenance.. now they said the maps have escaped! Anyone can advise which other singapore online maps can i go to? Dear Users Our Singapore Maps have escaped out the window! They were last seen wearing many layers of data acquired through many hours of painstaking land surveys. They are up-to-date and considered highly user-friendly. The public is advised to avoid travelling to unfamiliar places in the meantime. Rest assured, we

Does anyone know if they have been given the green light to resume business? Can't seem to access their webby...

The roadmap to the courts By Leong Wee Keat, TODAY | Posted: 24 November 2006 0734 hrs Photos 1 of 1 SINGAPORE: The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has filed a civil suit against Virtual Map - the company behind streetdirectory.com - for copyright infringement. The copyright material in question: Singapore's map data and street information, which the SLA had licensed to Virtual Map, but whose licence the authority terminated in July 2004. The statutory board claimed that after the termination, Virtual Map continued to sell and distribute its maps. It also created new maps, which the SLA alleges are reproductions of the authority's works. The SLA is seeking damages and an injunction to restrain Virtual Map from further infringement of the data. It also wants Virtual Map to disclose the names and addresses of all persons or companies that it has distributed the maps to. Additionally, the SLA is also seeking an order to destroy all documents, materials or images in which copyright breaches have occurred. The suit, filed in October last year, was confirmed on Thursday by an SLA spokesperson. On Wednesday, the SLA launched a website that allows non-commercial users to download maps for free, presenting an alternative to the popular streetdirectory.com. While non-corporate users can download maps from streetdirectory.com for free, Virtual Map imposes charges for commercial entities wanting to do the same. In the past two years, the company has brought suits against five companies here for copyright infringements, after they reproduced Virtual Map's location maps on their websites. All the suits were settled out of court. When asked about the suit brought against it by the SLA, Virtual Map and its lawyer Low Chai Chong declined comment. Under the seven licence agreements it had signed with SLA, Virtual Map claimed that the digitised data received was "raw" and bears "no substantial similarity" to the ones they later produced. The defendant further argued that the maps it created were "original literary and artistic works" and were the product of their own "skill, effort and labour". Virtual Map also argued that under the agreements, it was an implied term that the defendant would be allowed to keep any maps created, and to maintain, market, distribute and sell them. It added that there were also no "express terms" in the licence agreements requiring it to destroy maps that may have contained SLA's original data, upon termination of the agreements. Both parties are set to appear before the Subordinate Courts on Jan 8. - TODAY

Will the site be forced to shutdown? Aug 8, 2007 Judge orders Virtual Map to end SLA copyright breach By K.C. Vijayan, Law Correspondent A DISTRICT court yesterday ruled that Virtual Map (Singapore)'s online maps on www.streetdirectory.com had breached the Singapore Land Authority's (SLA) copyright. The judge also ordered the company to destroy or deliver up all infringing material. In her 131-page reserved judgment, District Judge Thian Yee Sze also held that Virtual Map should stop 'dealing in maps which are reproductions of SLA's street directory vector data and address point vector data', among other things. The judge further ordered an inquiry into the damages due to SLA. Depending on what SLA wants, a court registrar could ask for an account of Virtual Map's profits. Virtual Map (VM) is an online map firm which also develops and publishes location-based software and systems. There are hundreds of small and medium enterprises who pay a fee each time they reproduce maps from its website. As publisher of the popular website www.streetdirectory. com, it was originally a licensee of the SLA for certain data - like street address points and directory points, which the SLA claimed copyright to. But, although its licence from SLA was terminated in July 2004, VM's maps continued to appear on its websites. SLA's position had been that VM no longer had the SLA's consent to reproduce the maps. VM's case had been that its maps were not substantial reproductions of the SLA's works. The company had also maintained that even if there were similarities, infringement did not happen because there was an implied term in its contract that allowed the company to keep and create maps even after the licence deal lapsed. The company also argued that its maps from Aug 9, 2004, were created independently using other methods like the Global Positioning System points, satellite images and ground surveys. District Judge Thian disagreed. She said VM's improvement and 'beautification' of its online maps was 'no mean feat' but this was a separate issue from whether its online maps were the products 'of its own independent creation'. The judge said that VM could not 'escape the truth' that its map-creating process was heavily dependent on SLA's data because SLA's information had provided the 'skeleton' for VM's online maps. She also rejected VM's defence that SLA knew that it provided maps for a fee - and therefore SLA had implicitly approved. Lawyers from Drew & Napier represented SLA, while VM was defended by counsel from Rodyk & Davidson.

bros, I know they are slightly different However, ever since i knew google map, i've been using it instead of streetdirectory.com reason: it loads so fast and is so dynamic, just drag and scroll to zoom.