Getting Fed Up With MapSource Unlock

Hey, folks! I recently sold a Garmin GPSmap 76CS and Vista C to purchase
a new GPSmap 76CSx.

I have North American City Select (v6) licensed to both units, but now
that I do not own them anymore, I want to get the licensing transferred
over to the new gps. Garmin, however, won't cooperate with me,
essentially saying I'm "stuck with the unlock codes for the other two
units for life."

I've received email and phone support to no avail. I was given the reason
that Garmin has to pay a fee to NAVTEQ each time an unlock code is
generated.

If anyone has found a legal work-around for this issue, I'd appreciate
hearing it.

Please do not respond buy telling me to buy another unlock code. I've
already purchased two, City Select is being discontinued, and I'm waiting
for City Navigator 8 to come out, anyway, so if I by anything new, I'll
wait for that.

Thanks in advance,
Respectfully,
Stephen

On Thu, 13 Apr 2006 13:35:46 -0500, Stephen Brown vigorously opined:


Editor's Note: Sorry for the typos ;). It seems my "buys" are getting a
mixed up with my "by's."

I apologize for the inconvenience.

Respectfully,
Stephen

Correct. You should consider the cost of the maps when determining the
sale price for your old units. A GPS device with lock codes is worth
more than one without.


Correct.


Why not? When you sold your units, you sold the maps with them. You
don't own them anymore.


Cheers,
-+JLS

--
\ carpe cavy!
seagull @ aracnet.com \
http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/ \ (seize the guinea pig!)

On Thu, 13 Apr 2006 19:01:34 +0000, Seagull vigorously opined:



I only sold the gps units, themselves, not the individual software, North
American City Select. I no longer own the hardware. The software still
resides on my hard drive.

This is a licensing/registration issue, not a hardware issue.

Thanks for your reply,
--Stephen

On Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:38:30 -0500, Stephen Brown vigorously opined:


More specifically, this pertains to the right of the consumer to not be
gouged by the 'company store' for products already paid for. Kind of like
the old tale of the townsfolk owning heating units for their homes in the
winter, then being forced to turn them back in to the company store for
the summer, only to be forced to pay again to have them reinstalled the
next winter.

I consider this no different in principle.

Here we have two companies: Garmin International and NAVTEQ. I do not
have a problem with the two-unit limit on maps. Just so long as one is
transferable to the other when new hardware is available. Just because I
purchase new hardware does not imply that I should, likewise, have to
update the mapping software just because I bought a new unit.

As the mapping software--North American City Select in this case--is
registered via a condition of the User I.D., re-generating a new unlock
code, sans any necessity of a new license from NAVTEQ for Garmin to
generate such code--as the software has already been purchased by me once,
should not be an issue.

Putting It Bluntly: It's technically feasible, I've paid my money, and
neither I nor Garmin should have to--either directly or indirectly--pay
NAVTEQ for product already bought and paid for. It's simply a unit
reassignment, and should not entail either the manufacturer or the
consumer having to re-pay for anything to a third party.

The problem lies in the ability for a user (consumer) of the mapping
products to be able to drop units at will, either through on-site
registration or--and more to my liking--with the ability to add and drop
gps units from within MapSource, itself, with no limitations on the number
of units, so long as they remain at two.

The mapping software should not be hardware i.d. dependent to the point of
absolute exclusion. Some lattitude for the consumer is an implied right,
and should be respected. It's called "Fair Use Rights" if I'm not
mistaken.

Warm regards,
Stephen