EQ, the makers of EQ6, have decided that their users can only reformat their hard drive and reinstall EQ6 a maximum of 4 times. After that users must pay $40 for an additional activation.
EQ justifies this policy by stating that they are being generous compared with other companies since they are allowing for 4 concurrent installations.
I think the company is being unethical by referring to concurrent installations and activations as the same thing. Most companies may not allow concurrent installations but usually do not restrict the number of reinstallations, especially if they are being performed on the same machine.
At the very least I believe EQ should sell their software as “4 activations of EQ6,” not “EQ6.”
What do you think? Is it ethical for them to market the program as simply “EQ6,” and surprise their users when there are no activations remaining?
Also, if you know of other software companies that do such a thing, please let me know the company and software names. I am not referring to companies that require a phone call to reactivate when computers are swapped. I?m talking about companies that may refuse to activate when the user is using the same equipment or charge for an activation when a computer swap occurs.
If you’d like the full story I have a rant here:
http://techfettish.wordpress.com/2007/12/19/hello-world/
You can see the exact details of EQ6’s activation policy here:
http://www.electricquilt.com/Shop/EQ6/EQ6activations.asp
-tech
