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MapPoint 2003 EULA Fleet Applications FAQ

The MapPoint Team recently distributed this Frequently Asked Questions List to their partners regarding the new fleet applications provision to appear in the MapPoint 2003 EULA.

Note that MapPoint 2003 was never released and the next version of MapPoint after MapPoint 2002 is called MapPoint 2004. See here for ordering information.


Frequently Asked Questions

Question:
What Fleet Application restrictions will be introduced in MapPoint 2003?
Answer:
The new restrictions are as follows:

  • The new End User License Agreement will include an upper limit of fifty (50) vehicles for MapPoint-based Fleet Applications. In other words, any Fleet Application system that manages a fleet of 51 or more vehicles cannot be based on MapPoint 2003 technology.
  • Fleet Applications based on MapPoint 2003 for fleets of 50 vehicles or less ARE allowed, but for these solutions the licensing model changes from a "one license per user" to a "one license per vehicle (or one license per user, whichever is more)" model. For example, 5 users managing 40 vehicles would require 40 licenses.
  • Real-time vehicle guidance applications are not allowed, irrespective of fleet size.

Question:
What do you mean by "Fleet Application"?
Answer:
The definition of the term in the context of the MapPoint 2003 end user license is as follows:
"Fleet Applications" shall mean software, products or systems capable, in real-time or near-real time, of any one or more of locating, monitoring, tracking, calculating and/or presenting routes and/or driving directions, including optimized routes and/or driving directions from multiple origins to multiple destinations and/or optimization of routes across multiple vehicles, and/or dispatching, two or more vehicles the positions of which are in any way determined using GPS Technology or any other Positioning Technology."

Question:
What do you mean by "Positioning Technology"?
Answer:
The definition of the term "positioning technology" in the context of the MapPoint 2003 end user license is as follows:
"Positioning Technology" shall mean GPS Technology or any other technology, devices and/or sensors that allow an application to determine in real-time or near-real time the position and/or velocity of a person, vehicle, device or other object.

Question:
What do you mean by `real-time' or `near real-time'?
Answer:
"Real-time" means there is no measurable delay between the moment a GPS location is acquired and the time this location is made available to the application. "Near real-time" takes into account network latency, transmission time and any other systems delays. For the purpose of the MapPoint 2003 EULA, we will interpret any application that has a guaranteed minimum of 15 seconds between acquisition of the location fix and the availability of this location fix to the user as a NON near real-time solution (and therefore not subject to Fleet Application licensing restrictions.

Question:
My application does real-time or near real-time tracking of entities other than "vehicles" (people, pets, race horses, airplanes, trains, heavy equipment and other moving assets). Will MapPoint 2003 have any restrictions on tracking applications for entities other than "vehicles"?
Answer:
The new restrictions only relate to "Fleet Applications", and the definition of this term specifically limits this to applications that manage vehicles. This means that solutions that track entities that are not vehicles are not affected. People, pets, race horses, wild animals, airplanes, boats, and trains obviously do not fall under the definition of "vehicles".

Question:
My near real-time fleet application is used by some customers that have fleets of over 50 vehicles. Is there any way I can get approval from Microsoft or its content suppliers to sell my application to these larger fleet customers?
Answer:
Unfortunately, this isn't possible. The Fleet Application clause will be part of the End User License Agreement (EULA), which cannot be adapted for specific solutions or sales situations.

Question:
I understand the concept of a "per vehicle" licensing model for Fleet Applications, but none of your information tells me what the "per vehicle" license cost is. Where can I find this information?
Answer:
In the case of a Fleet Application, each vehicle (or each user, whichever is the bigger number) needs a full MapPoint 2003 license. There is no special vehicle license - the vehicle license is the same as the user license. Pricing for MapPoint 2003 has not yet been set, but it is likely that the 2003 version will be priced higher than the current $249 SRP of MapPoint 2002.

Question:
If I go by the definition, my application is a "Fleet Application". However, the vehicles that I'm tracking (agricultural or forestry vehicles that drive off-road, race cars driving through the desert) never go anywhere near a public road. I assume the Fleet Application restrictions do not apply to my application?
Answer:
Your assumption is incorrect. For reasons of simplicity, the EULA language doesn't make a distinction between tracking vehicles that travel on public roads and those that don't, so if your application fits the definition of Fleet Applications, the restrictions will apply.

Question:
What do you mean by "one license per vehicle or one license per user, whichever number is higher"?
Answer:
For Fleet Applications that are built on the MapPoint 2003 product, customers will need one license per vehicle - as opposed to one license per user of the software as is customary with Microsoft desktop application software. A special case arises in situations where the number of users of the Fleet Application is larger than the number of vehicles tracked. In those cases, each user still needs a license to run the software. Each license can "double" as a user and vehicle license.

  • Example 1: 5 users of a Fleet Application that tracks 42 vehicles requires 42 licenses (the vehicle licenses more than cover the users, so no additional licenses required to cover the users).
  • Example 2: 12 users of a Fleet Application that tracks 8 vehicles requires 12 licenses (the 8 vehicle licenses only cover 8 users, so 4 additional licenses are required to cover the user population).

Question:
What is the life span of a license? Is each MapPoint license still a "perpetual" license or is it a license that is valid for a certain period of time (like one year)?
Answer:
MapPoint 2003 licenses will still be perpetual licenses. However, since there are no "map updates" that can be applied to the MapPoint product, users that require new map content will have to update their license when the next version of MapPoint ships.

Question:
I'm building a Fleet Application that uses the MapPoint .NET Web Service, not the MapPoint desktop product. Am I affected by this EULA change?
Answer:
No, you are not affected because the Fleet Application language does not apply to MapPoint .NET.

Question:
Will this same EULA language be introduced in Streets & Trips 2003 and AutoRoute 2003, or could I use those products for low-end Fleet Applications?
Answer:
The same Fleet Application language will be in the Streets & Trips 2003 and AutoRoute 2003 products.

Question:
I have no intention of upgrading my Fleet Application to MapPoint 2003. Will the EULA of my MapPoint 2002 software be changed to incorporate the new Fleet Application language.
Answer:
Microsoft Corporation will not change the licensing agreement of products you already own and use, and so as long as you are in compliance with the current MapPoint 2002 EULA, you have no reason to worry. The new EULA language will only affect you if and when you use MapPoint 2003.

Question:
I'm not sure whether my application is considered to be a "Fleet Application". Who can I call for help?
Answer:
You should first read the information in the EULA carefully and read this FAQ document. If you still have questions, you can contact the licensing specialist in your local Microsoft office for further information. Alternatively, you can email maplic@microsoft.com with your questions. Please note that Microsoft can explain the language of the agreement, but will not evaluate your application to decide whether it is deemed to be a Fleet Application or not in the context of the MapPoint 2003 EULA.

Question:
Do you expect any further licensing changes to occur in the near future?
Answer:
It is hard to predict future developments, and as you would expect, it is impossible to give you a guarantee that no changes will occur. However, we have good relationships with our content vendors and do not anticipate that they will be asking us to make further changes to our licensing agreement. Microsoft itself isn't planning any licensing changes specific to the MapPoint desktop client product.

Question:
How will Microsoft enforce these new licensing restrictions?
Answer:
The new licensing restrictions for Fleet Applications are part of the End User License Agreement (EULA). There are no technical restrictions in the software to enforce these rules but that doesn't change the situation. Users have to accept the EULA before they can use the software, and by accepting the EULA, they agree to abide by the rules. Violating the EULA is illegal and is punishable by law.

Links:
Discussion board:
   - Participate in the forum discussing the changes here.
Coverage on Directions Magazine:
   - August 26th newsletter
   - September 3rd article

Discuss this story in the forum.



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