Times have change for folks programming. I think the best idea was back when one could write a lock on the program so it could not be copied...Although that made your original disk very valuable... and then came along shareware.. where you have a crippled version. For one reason or another folks never really bought into shareware, even though it is todays standard which seems to replace beta testing. Big problem with shareware that is a 'complete version' is that most folks never send in the denaro. And freeware gets you into the food bank line for your next turkey:-)
For every Electric Magazine I sold, there were 2 pirate versions on the market...Sam Goodies was selling my program in Ontario Canada without my permission and I knew that the only way was to sneak in a trick. Because the program was so alterable, many pirates called me for instructions. I sent them the manual for 15 dollars which was about half the price of the program....It actually worked...but i digress,,,