[Tilt, TyTN II, MDA Vario III Themes and Apps] FactionOne:
I suppose the blunt answer is that if a) you haven't paid TomTom money for the software, or b) the software wasn't included in an official ROM on your device for 'trial' purposes; then you are outside terms of the licence - in simple terms, not legal.

There is however reasonable grounds for debate given that TomTom seem to be forgetting the PDA community to ever more significant levels. That's particularly out of order when you consider that it was really PDA users that put TomTom on the map (no pun intended) and really helped the consumer satellite navigation system market flourish into the extremely lucrative enterprise it now is.

The situation we're in now is that we've bank-rolled a good portion of TomTom's discreet product development, and indeed commercial success; and it seems our party-invites are being forgotten...

At the end of the day the product development and channel support for PDA users is shrinking more and more. The only real way to have a chance (and it's not guaranteed) of owning up-to-date (and therefore really useful) TomTom sat nav for your PDA is if you happen to buy one of only a handful of devices which fall inside the remit of the deal TomTom did with HTC. The next kick in the nuts is when you find out that even though you own a perfectly capable device, manufactured by the company who are in bed with TomTom, you still don't automatically join the party because the chances are you got your Diamond/Kaiser/Whatever from your Telco; and re-brands of device and software don't fall inside the same deal.

So, Mr A with his ageing but still capable iPaq can't buy a recent version of Navigator and a map for it because PDA software isn't out in the channel. And also Mr B, who owns a shiny-new Kaiser, but may have got it in the form of a Vaio III from T-Mobile, or a Tilt from those lovely folks over the pond, also can't get the software; again even though it is in existence, simply because they got their HTC manufactured (and the key point here is that HTC still made their £££, it was just T-Mobile/AT&T/Orange/whoever signing the cheque rather than Mr B himself) from a Telco because it worked out to be £0-£100 for the device rather than £300-500 to buy it 'SIM free'. The fact that TomTom are slowly and quietly dropping their PDA customers winds me up enough, but the fact a good number of HTC customers are excluded from the ever-shrinking party simply because their Telco subsidised part of the purchase price of the device makes it even worse.

So, relatively up-to-date versions of TomTom navigator for PDAs do exist, as do relatively up-to-date maps and extras (traffic/safety camera subscriptions). The only problem is that even if you want to, it's near impossible to spend your money on them.

Does this make TomTom a bunch of clowns for still putting some resource into development but at the same time slamming the door on a large number of loyal users who would still quite happily help them recoup or even profit on those costs, absolutely. Should they be surprised if some people find other ways around those obstacles when pound-notes fail, probably not. Does that make it ethical - it's debatable (but for the sake of this great site's legal-footing, that debate can't really take place here. ...Does it make it legal, alas no.

So, for the black-and-white legal position on the matter, read the first paragraph again. Anything beyond that I think is up to the individual, who has to decide whether they'll risk/be prepared for/accept any potential consequences of other actions which fall outside of TomTom's frankly ridiculous position.

I can't help wondering what the blinkered-idiots at TomTom are thinking on this issue. As far as I can see they currently have product available, and there's no real reason why that can't continue for the forseeable future given that most of the development cost will still be incurred if they only shipped discreet devices (ie, it can't cost that much extra to make sure there's a pretty recent PDA version living alongside their discreet products); BUT, they've more or less completely closed every route to market. Which Mickey Mouse school of business did these chumps go to? Yes, I see the point that they stand to make more money by selling you a Go! 940 Live than a software-only product for your PDA; but I for one certainly won't go running out to buy a 940 (or its descendant) if all possibility of my running an up-to-date version on my PDA ceases. I think I'll be feeling alienated enough to give my money to Navman, Garmin or any of the others first. Likewise they could, and should have enough confidence in their own discreet products to see that there are USPs differentiating both markets - some folks just one a gadget to do sat nav, and nothing else, they want it to be integrated and simple, with more focus on certain aspects of specification. On the other hand some folks will always have the need for a PDA, and would prefer not to have a rucksack full of electronics to carry with us - OK, we might not get all the benefits of a discreet sat nav unit; but if it's that way or the highway (again, no pun intended, I'm just one damn funny guy ;)), why exclude our money from your coffers.

Anyway, in short; you're probably a little outside of licensing and copyright law; but at the moment it's probably fair to say that TomTom have left us out in the cold to some degree, so you should just feel the force/go with your heart/<insert other suitable cliché here>...

Rant over.

Love and hugs (to everyone apart from TomTom's marketeers),

Rob.