William Bright had a great idea, offer free versions of the official NYC and SF subway systems to play back on iPods. Over 50,000 downloaded the NYC MTA subway map until the MTA sent a copyright violation, cease and desist letter. Bright complied.

A similar letter was received from SF's BART authorities and complied with. Did the MTA overreact? MTA says no, we just want to control our license and make sure maps offered are up to date. Some recent changes were not incorporated.

MTA offered a license for the map but said it could be given away but not sold. The catch? $500 for the limited license. Bright offers almost 2 dozen subway maps from all over the world for iPods and says $500 per map would cost too much.

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