There has been a great deal of discussion about the licensing changes for the MP 2004 EULA in relation to the Fleet Tracking applications. I finally spoke with a Microsoft Partner Integration Program support and got the details of the license changes:
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In a nutshell:
The restrictions only pertain to applications that fall into our
definition of "Fleet Application" - and that definition is much narrower
than the usual definition. For an application to be considered a "Fleet
Application", it needs to be using real-time or near real-time
positioning. Real-time (i.e. a vehicle's location is displayed in
MapPoint without ANY delay) is a physical impossibility - the GPS device
needs to calculate its location, then the location needs to be sent from
the vehicle to the tracking system, and MapPoint needs to refresh the
dot on the map. This process probably takes 2-5 seconds in the average
application, so what people refer to as "real-time" is really just "near
real-time" (i.e. as close to real time as you can get given the various
delays and processes required to get the vehicle position from the
vehicle to the operator).
Our EULA clearly describes where "near real-time" ends. If you ensure
that no position used in a solution is more recent than 15 seconds, the
solution is not considered real-time or near real-time, and therefore it
is NOT A FLEET APP! And if it isn't a "Fleet App", none of the Fleet App
restrictions apply...
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So as long as ANY SINGLE VEHICLE'S position isn't more current than 15 seconds it isn't a problem. Most mapping apps have a refresh rate of around 30 seconds, so this EULA problem is only an issue for the most HARDCORE real-time mapping apps and not for the general applications that integrate with MP.
Hope that clarifies for everyone!
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