The navigational satellite GIOVE-A, launched recently, is the prototype of 30 satellites that will compose Galileo in 2010. Reminder: Galileo is a positioning system by satellite, the direct competitor of American GPS that everyone uses for the moment.

Because GPS satellites are payed by US taxpayers, the signal is free. Consumers need only purchase a GPS receiver. On another hand, Galileo must make money to reimburse its investors. That's why someone has to pay to get the PRN codes necessary to decode the signal.

And since Galileo and GPS will share frequency bandwidths, Europe and the US signed an agreement whereby some of Galileo's PRN codes must be open source. Nevertheless, after broadcasting its first signals on January 12, 2006, none of GIOVE-A's codes had been made public.

In mid-January, Mark Psiaki, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell and co-leader of Cornell's GPS Laboratory, requested the codes from Martin Unwin at Surrey Satellite Technology. Ltd, one of three privileged groups in the world with the PRN codes. Martin politely declined.
Then Mark contacts his friend Olivier Montenbruck, a German colleague. He realizes that even him wants to know the codes. Even Europeans were being frustrated!

Upset, Mark and his team develop in one week a algorithm to extract the codes. Two weeks later, he got a first result that he has to throw away 'cause the signal's repeat period was twice that expected. But in the middle of March, they end up with their first estimations, with a little tip from Olivier. Finally, on the first of April, they publish it on this website.
Two days later, Canadian-based GPS receiver manufacturer, NovAtel, downloaded the codes from the website and began tracking GIOVE-A for the first time.

Then, Galileo also publishes the PRN codes, mid-April. But they're not the ones used bu GIOVE-A. Furthermore, the same publication labelled the open source codes as Intellectual Property, claiming a licence is required for any commercial receiver.
"Apparently they were trying to make money on the open source code", says Mark.

But, afraid that cracking the code might have been copyright infringement, Psiaki's team consulted with Cornell's university counsel, and were told that while cracking the encryption of creative content like music or a movie, is illegal, cracking a navigation signal is an open game. Vamos!

The conclusion of this story: Europeans cannot copyright the data coming from a satellite that they built! It's quite odd if all the business-plan is based on seling the codes. I don't think so. And moreover, Galileo affirms that the final codes will be different. But now, we know how to do...