What a load of hype about nothing. All they are trying to do is fool the uneducated into thinking they have actually done something special. A very cheap marketing ploy.
They are the ones who specify which location geo-coded photos fall in to, so it is no surprise that when they over lay them on a map, they match the borders of the actual locations....
Flickr have reverse-engineered the technology to physically locate states. This information is no longer limited to a few select vendors who've signed NDAs and non-compete clauses.
Finally people can develop their own mapping applications that work with the existing statename / location combos. This means you will be able to tell where you are. I thought I was in London, which coincidentally turned out to be right when I checked on Flickr's new reverse-engineered 'map' technology, but it could have totally gone the other way.
They are the ones who specify which location geo-coded photos fall in to, so it is no surprise that when they over lay them on a map, they match the borders of the actual locations....