Replying to a message of Rich Gauszka to All:

 RG> From: "Rich Gauszka" 

 RG> I'm sure MS would love to see this model go global.

 RG> PC to user : "I'm sorry your time is up - Your  license to operate
 RG> this PC has been terminated. To avoid this unfortunate occurrence in
 RG> the future enter your debit card number into the WindowsUpdate
 RG> screen"

 RG> http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20060522/tc_pcworld/125822

[snip]

There's nothing new here.  In the mainframe world software has *always*
been licensed, not purchased.  If one did not renew one's license, at the
end of the licensed period, which was usually a year, the software would
stop working.  Some products displayed a warning message on the system
console about a month before the expiration date, one particular product posted
the warning message about once an hour.

Computer Associates was really obnoxious with some of its licensing provisions
and packages.  Which is the main reason that my employer at the time got rid
of all of the CA products it was using.

--- FleetStreet 1.19+