Re: Garmin Xs, memory cards, and MapSource licenses

Hm wrote:
> > I understand that
> > Magellan does not have the same constraints on map usage.
>
> If you mean the exact same constraint then you are right, they have a
> different unlock procedure but Magellan does have similar contstraints
> on map useage than Garmin.

Agreed. Furthermore it seems likely to me that neither of these
companies is the instigating force behind the current copy protection
restrictions. Both offered maps that came from public sources
*without* any copy protection. Magellan's MapSend Streets and Garmin's
MapSource Roads&Recreation maps both came from the TIGER database and
neither was copy protected. Similarly Garmin's USTopo and Magellan's
original MapSend Topo came from USGS data and neither is copy
protected. OTOH, when both manufacturers wanted to offer maps with
auto-routing capability they went to NavTeq for the data and *then*
both manufacturers put in copy protection methods.

So it strikes me as most likely that the data supplier, NavTeq in the
case of auto-routing street maps, is the company that required the use
of suitable copy protection in their contractual agreements with the
GPS makers.

As to the original poster's question, it shouldn't be much of a mystery
since Garmin has long had quite a few models with replaceable memory
cards such as the eMap, 276/376/etc. series, various Street Pilot
models, etc. When maps are written to one of the memory cards from a
'locked' product the proper unlock code for a specific GPS has to be
used. The maps on the card can then only be used in the specified GPS.
Putting it into another GPS leads to an error message that the maps
can't be unlocked.

.

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