43inches, categorisation in computing is a little more evolved than just distinguishing between hardware and software. A database is neither, it's an organised body of related information, software is the logic that uses data from databases and acts upon that data. There's a bit of software that sits between general software that accesses data and the database itself which is called database management software (dbms). When you update the database in your GPS, you update the database itself, not the dbms or any other software.
I would very much doubt CASA would try to argue a database is software, I'm going on universally accepted definitions and a court would take a similar view.
As we know, CAAP's are not legal documents and as such the wording is not as watertight as the CAR's/CAO's. I should think it would be not too hard to challenge the CAAP statement that classifies database updates as maintenance, after all it is the same as replacing a map and as you have to have current maps you have to have a current database -- no more mo less.
In my training so far I haven't seen a single IFR MR where database updates were individually noted. Admittedly I haven't seen hundreds and hundreds of different ones, but from what I read here it doesn't seem to be common practice either..
Maybe one of the CASA guys reading here can clear this up once and for all
