Man admits infringing Boeing unit’s GPS data copyright

A man from California has pleaded guilty to copyright infringement after he resold updates for a GPS product operated by a Boeing subsidiary on eBay.

Craig Vincent admitted one count of criminal infringement of copyright, according to a release shared by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) on Monday, July 23.

Vincent used eBay to resell updates for an aviation navigational database, in violation of a licensing agreement for a product called NavData.

NavData is a satellite-based data product used by aeroplanes in conjunction with the autopilot feature. Operated by Jeppesen, a subsidiary of aerospace company Boeing, NavData provides data for pilots and military aviation organisations worldwide.

Jeppesen updates NavData on a 28-day cycle and sells subscriptions to the data, which is then downloaded onto a card used in conjunction with a GPS device or flight management computer.

The data includes information about airports, runways, routes, and terminal procedures, and “general information that a GPS or flight management computer needs to navigate an airplane to final destination”, said the DoJ.

Jeppesen’s licensing agreement doesn’t allow customers to resell the data sets or sell multiple copies.

Operating under the business name Merlin Enterprise, Vincent used eBay and his own website to resell NavData cards to consumers. He also required customers to return the old cards to him, in violation of Jeppesen’s licensing agreement.

Following an FBI investigation into his actions, Vincent was charged with the unlawful reproduction and distribution of copyright-protected works at the US District Court for the District of Kansas in November last year.

The indictment said the infringing actions began in January 2014 and continued for a period of 180 days, adding that the copyright-protected works had a retail value of more than $2,500.

Vincent is due to be sentenced on October 15. The US Attorney’s Office said he may be fined up to $250,000 and sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Earlier this year, WIPR interviewed David Shenk, senior counsel at Boeing, about how the company handles IP challenges as its business spreads across the globe.