Centralized database? Ummm... How is this possible? According to the plans, Universa will hold not more than 20% of nodes if I'm not mistaken. All other nodes will be from users. Centralized? Nope. The fact that they are licensing nodes does not makes them a centralized system. They use PoA mechanism
Yes, licensing is a sign of centralization. The CEO decides who gets the license. And it doesn't matter how many nodes Universa have officially.
Decentralization is when anyone can install a node. The owner of the node should not depend on anyone or ask permission. Only the market regulates, this is true decentralization. No manual control.