I wasn't concerned about the e-license issue at all when it was first brought up. After all, it's really common in the niche software world. But when people explained their concerns I began to recognize the unique characteristics of DMB and it's sports replay kin that do in fact make this an issue worth wrestling with. With most software games you figure they will be obsolete in a few years anyway. Also, you get your enjoyment while playing them, and you don't consider the results something you need to permanently archive and access from time-to-time. And any one game (in this case replay) is not THAT big a deal. But in DMB a season replay like I have done with 1974 (playing out every game for all teams over four-plus years) is almost like a child you have raised. And one of the essential uniquenesses of baseball is the passion for statistical reference that captures a young boy and makes him a fan for life. In a very real sense that no other sport quite shares to the same degree, baseball IS statistical reference. So the idea that you could at some point in the future be cut off from either continuing a replay where you've invested much time, heart and effort or accessing one, this idea is troubling, more for some than for others.

I imagine that elicense or similar alternative was a nobrainer from the company's point of view. After all, if you're going to make your product freely available to anyone with a web connection you've got to do something to secure your financial rights to your property and discourage piracy. Even if they recognize that some of our concerns are legitimate it's not likely they will be able to back off from some form of key-licensing. Like others, I hope something is able to be figured out, but I'm not holding my breath. The odds are we will be faced with the choice currently before us.

I'll probably just live with the restrictions best I can, keep a separate installation of version 9, any replays I have completed, and all seasons I own in version 9 format. That way at least I can limit my potential losses to anything I do with version 10 going forward.