[OSM-talk] Cracking the Secret Codes of Europe's Galileo Satellite

[Emil Vaughan]

On 7/10/06, martin dodge <m.dodge at manchester.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>
> Hi, I found this story interesting, particularly as I've not kept up to
> date on how the Galileo system is designed to operate.
>
> Cracking the Secret Codes of Europe's Galileo Satellite
> http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/521790/?sc=rsla
>
> I particularly liked these comments at the end of the article:
>
> "Afraid that cracking the code might have been copyright infringement,
> Psiaki's group consulted with Cornell's university counsel. "We were told
> that cracking the encryption of creative content, like music or a movie,
> is illegal, but the encryption used by a navigation signal is fair game,"
> said Psiaki. The upshot: The Europeans cannot copyright basic data about
> the physical world, even if the data are coming from a satellite that they
> built.
>
> "Imagine someone builds a lighthouse," argued Psiaki. "And I've gone by
> and see how often the light flashes and measured where the coordinates
> are. Can the owner charge me a licensing fee for looking at the light? .
> No. How is looking at the Galileo satellite any different?"

"The Europeans cannot copyright basic data about the physical world" -
the ordnance survey thinks it can......... :)