Imagine an agency of the state government tasked with surveying the entire country. A sensible idea, after all, one must know where there is space and where there isn't, where rivers, houses, roads, railways, and plots of land are, and all the other things that are around.

Imagine further that this agency is naturally funded by tax money - sensible, since it is a service to society. The survey technicians working there are paid from the public purse and do what they do best - survey the area.

Imagine further that these data are also used for maps for private individuals. Commendable - even if the maps are significantly more expensive at almost 8 euros than other maps, they are based on much more precise data and are beautifully detailed at 1:25,000 - ideal as hiking maps.

Imagine further that this agency also operates an online service where you can zoom in on all maps - down to the scale of 1:1,000. Very nice, to take a closer look at the area in detail. Unfortunately, the window is very small and thus the overview is not really very good. In return, you can mix in aerial images.

Imagine further that this agency also provides the map data in digital form - with software only for Windows. That's bad. That's rarely stupid - Java has been around for 15 years, should also be known in such offices and agencies. Moreover, the DVD with its almost 50 euros is not exactly cheap (or rather, the 1:50,000 is not - the 1:25,000 are two DVDs, no idea about the price - probably double). And did I mention that they were so stupid to make it only for Windows?

Now imagine that the data on the Windows DVD are indeed based on a standard format (GeoTIFF - basically map material as TIFF with additional geo-data for the precise determination of the position of the graphic tiles). But on the Windows DVD, these data are encrypted - to prevent any user of a non-publicly-officially-approved operating system from accessing them. That's shit.

Now imagine that upon inquiry, this office informs you that of course you can also get the data in the standard format - for a measly 3 euros per square kilometer of map coverage. That is an audacity. If you imagine all that together, then you have the Landesvermessungsamt Nordrhein-Westfalen.

What do I pay my taxes for again? So that I can be screwed twice?