Lee,
I must admit I initially felt the same way you do now. The very nature of a GPSer is freedom to explore and therefore loathe any attempt to be tied/dongled down.
But it's a matter of piracy, plain and simple. Several times I have contacted eBay and Lowrance about sales of MapCreate that were obviously "pirated" copies. One seller sold several sets where he even stated that they were "backup copies"! Therefore requiring the LEI reader will definitely cut down on that scam.
Let's face some facts... Lowrance's iFinder, even though it's a superior product, has a tiny share of the market. Therefore I can't believe they are making any profit at all on MapCreate at it's current pricing. I'm sure it's offered only to remain somewhat competitive in the market. So when you add in piracy, those losses make it a totally unviable product. So paying an extra $20 for the reader is ok by me. The other restrictions are more bothersome I'll admit...
Another product they sell, FreedomMaps memory cards, is just as ripe for piracy. Hence they put in a restriction about allowing only five memory chips to ever be programmed. OY! Therefore you better buy the largest and best quality MMC chips you can afford. So the 32mb chip that you're given you can either throw away or be as handicapped as a Garmin. NOTE: I've seen several complaints about SD chips, especially large cheap ones, not working.
The third restriction, requiring the cd to be loaded, is I'll agree totally absurd! Even Delorme hasn't required this for years.
That being said, I don't blame you or others for being upset. If however someone wants Topo, this is the inconvenience one must put up with. I also have to admit I can count on one hand how many times a year I run this program. For trip and route planning there are several other products that are better and cheaper.
