I use an accounting package called MYOB for my company. This is a basic small-business accounting package which meets our needs just fine for now (at some point--I hope--we will need something beefier, but there's no point in going through that brain damage before we have to). Recently, MYOB released an upgrade which has a number of new features, including one which wasn't mentioned in the marketing literature: online validation.

Here's how it works: when you first launch the program, you enter your serial number, and it goes to MYOB's website and validates your serial number, and assigns a unique code to your company data file. If your serial number is invalid, or it can't be validated for whatever reason, the file becomes read-only after some period of time.

That's obnoxious enough. I don't treat my customers like thieves, and I don't expect to be treated like one, either.

But here's the real kicker: at random intervals, the program will ask you to re-validate your company's data file against your product serial number. And if you can't, your company's data becomes read-only after some period of time. Remember, we're talking about some of the most critical business data for any company, and I'm sure anyone with a little imagination can see the inherent risks.

Here is the text of the complaint E-mail I sent to MYOB:

I'm sure you've heard a number of similar complaints already, but I'd like to add mine to the bin.

The new product activation in 2004 is completely unacceptable.

While I appreciate your concerns about piracy, I cannot have critical software in my business subject to this requirement, for several reasons:

1) Should MYOB stop supporting the periodic reactivation (for example, because of bankruptcy, natural disaster, or a future decision to drop support of older packages), my accounting software becomes nearly worthless. Since I can't run my business without it, this puts me in a position of being forced to switch at a time and in a manner not of my choosing.

2) It treats my company, a legitimate licensee of your software, as a pirate. I can't get away with treating my customers that way, and I don't appreciate it when others treat me that way.

3) I don't know what process MYOB uses today for determining the legitimacy of activation or reactivation, but I can't rule out the possibility that in the future, MYOB will refuse to reactivate my company data due to a policy change at MYOB, or a hardware/software change on my part, or even because of some dispute between our companies. This gives MYOB too much leverage over my company, and could be used in the future to force us to purchase unwanted services or upgrades.

I don't look forward to switching accounting packages, but I can assure you that I will begin looking for alternatives immediately.

No response as yet. I'll post it here if I get one.