Another Evil Empire

No, I'm not talking about Bush.

What do you think about a software company (rhymes with "Stymantec") that has "successfully" transitioned to a subscription model, charges FULL price for a year's renewal, and then has the audacity to charge nearly 20% as a fee to provide some kind of Express Download capability, said capability being that you purchase the right to download the program you've already paid for at any time during the next year.

So if your computer crashes (ironic if it's due to a virus they didn't catch), not only do you have the joy of reinstalling all your software, but you have to PAY for the anti-virus stuff again. Unless of course, you have paid the extortion insurance Express Download fee. To use this service, you have to provide proof of purchase. Which wouldn't be any different if you didn't pay the fee. They don't lose any material wealth by providing this to you. So, really, it's a win-lose situation.

Hint: if you download the software, burn it to CD and store in a safe place. Much cheaper than the extortion insurance Express Download fee. This is about as bad as Micro$oft's business practices.

Certainly if no physical media is being transferred, then the company's cost is minimized. I realize they should be paid for their services, but with no significant upgrade to software, they're really gouging their customers, and then to charge a premium fee for something that should be provided as part of their exorbitant price anyway, well, my hackles are just raised massively.

This is pure extortion.