Inspiration is not imitation
MeshGolf was built after studying Golf GameBook. That is stated here because it is true, not because anyone requires it.
The boundary is simple: we compete on capability, never on expression. Feature ideas — a game feed, live leaderboards, team tournaments, shot statistics — are not protectable and are fair game. Copy, layout, iconography, colour systems and brand names are protectable and are not.
In practice: every word, colour and icon in MeshGolf was independently created. A test asserts that none of their taglines appear anywhere on these pages.
Course data: provenance and moderation
Courses come from clubs' published scorecards. Every course carries its provenance and its attribution all the way to the phone, so a golfer can see where a number came from.
Community corrections are welcome but do not publish directly. A proposal carries its submitter and its source; human moderation is required before it becomes part of a course; and every change is reversible.
The reason is not suspicion. A wrong par on one hole changes every Stableford score on that course for everyone who plays it.
Costly features must prove themselves first
MeshGolf is free and stays free. That means no feature may carry an open-ended recurring cost, because there is no revenue against it.
The following may not ship without a written cost model: media and video, GPS and rangefinder, live presence, and live tournaments. The cost model must name a quota, a retention period, and a fallback if the numbers do not close.
Some of these exist in competing products to justify a subscription. Copying one into a free product imports the cost without the revenue. A test asserts no media hosting has quietly shipped in the meantime.
Location is off by default
MeshGolf collects no location today. The app requests no location permission and the backend stores no coordinate. This is written now, while it is cheap and uncontroversial, rather than after someone has built the feature.
If location sharing is ever built it will be: off by default, bound to a named audience and a bounded time, and revocable at any moment. None of those may default to on.
The same applies to media and feed items: visibility is chosen by the owner, never assumed.
How this is enforced
Every claim above has a matching test. The tests read the real code — AndroidManifest.xml for permissions, the backend for coordinates and media routes — so this page cannot say one thing while the code does another.
See also the free and open source page for the rule on subscriptions, advertising and data sales.