US Scientists Crack Secret Codes Galileo
Secret codes used by Galileo have been cracked by American scientists. This has potentially devastating consequences for the European Union which wants to charge high-tech firms ‘licence fees’ to access that same data, before they can make and sell compatible navigation devices to the public.
Prof Mark Psiaki of Cornell University said in July 2006 that by using a dish on a laboratory roof his team had worked out how to crack codes on data being beamed down by a prototype satellite orbiting Earth. Cornell's success in deducing the codes just by watching the skies means that future users of Galileo will not have to ask the EU for the codes and may be able to refuse to pay the EU for them, Prof Psiaki said.
The European Commission said that Cornell's success in cracking codes for the prototype was irrelevant, as final codes for the Galileo system would not only be different, but would be made available by the EU.
But Prof Psiaki said: "Any manufacturer can now figure out the open source access codes for themselves."
