UPDATED: PMDG Releases Statement Regarding EULAs for P3D

UPDATED: 15:05 Friday September 7, 2012.Changes result from discussions be LMOC and PDMG this date.Rob Randazzo of PMDG, in response to AVSIM's query regarding their position on their End User License Agreements (EULAs) for their products and use within Lockheed's P3D, provided AVSIM the following statement; "PMDG’s position is that the EULA is an industry established process designed to clearly define any limitations of a customer’s rights to use the license that they have purchased. The limitations placed inside PMDG’s EULAs are reached after careful review with our corporate counsel and take into consideration such things as:

• Microsoft’s EULA for FSX and/or FS2002.
  
• Lockheed Martin’s EULA for Prepar3d.
  
• Limitations as required by PMDG’s contract with Boeing.
  
• Limitations as required by PMDG’s contracts with other licensors.
  
• Limitations as required by PMDG’s agreements with contributing airlines, MROs and support centers.
  
• Limitations as required by PMDG’s corporate liability insurer.
  
• Limitations as required by PMDG’s business model.
  

Given the subtext of the discussion, I think your broader question is: “Why does PMDG specifically disallow use of our products on the Prepar3d platform?”

The decision to limit the EULA on PMDG’s products to prevent their use in Prepar3d has everything to do with our contract with Boeing, our insurance carrier and our business model. In the context of the first two items, the decision involves the process of limiting PMDG’s liability in the face of legal action related to an accident outcome, or a violation of our contracts with the described parties who support the development of our products.

Those things can be changed however and I suspect that they will change once we have had a chance to adequately evaluate that outcome.

The third item is of larger concern to PMDG however as it relates to our basic concern to protect the investment our customers make in our products. We have not seen a clear commitment by Lockheed Martin to support the retail/casual simulation marketplace Lockheed Martin has been very careful not to enter the retail entertainment market with Prepar3d and has some very good reasons for not doing so. Without taking a step to enter the retail entertainment simulator market, Lockheed Martin has (in the opinion of PMDG and our counsel) left the door open so that they could, at any time change direction and enforce the terms of the EULA on Prepar3d thus requiring all Prepar3d users to prove compliance with their EULA. When this happens, the vast majority of simmers currently exploring Prepar3d as an alternative platform will be left without a valid license or usage rights because they do not meet the very limited band of allowable users as defined by the Lockheed Martin EULA. We prefer that our customers not be left having made an investment in a PMDG product only to lose the ability to use that product because they are using it on a platform for which they don’t have clear usage rights for Prepar3d.

This is a mess that we are hoping to see sorted out, but when we pointed this topic out, Lockheed Martin made it very clear that they were not interested in having a discussion with us regarding customer rights. If we are to market our products to the entertainment simulation community as being compatible with Prepar3d, I feel that PMDG has a responsibility to make sure users are not asked to compromise their integrity in order to use the product we sell them. Again, in the opinion of PMDG and our counsel’s office, we still see a number of avenues in which Lockheed Martin has itself painted into a corner from which it cannot clearly support the non-commercial/non-education consumer. When these very important questions are cleared up, we will be happy to provide our customers with the flexibility to use Prepar3d as a simming platform."

At 15:05 EST today, Robert Randazzo provided us this further input:

"As a result of AVSim’s interest in this story, Lockheed Martin and PMDG have re-engaged in a discussion that we hope will ultimately lead to some changes to benefit Prepar3d customers who wish to use PMDG’s products on the Prepar3d platform. Our goal is to be certain that PMDG customers are protected when they invest in a PMDG product, and from our conversation with Lockheed Martin today, it is clear that they share this concern as well. We hope to have more news on this topic late next week…"

You can participate in discussion of the EULA's from 3 party providers in the discussion forum here. You can also see the comparision table of vendors and EULA's here.