Ester...

I've re-read the Maintenance agreement.  Please note section 4.1...

4.1     Effective Date; Term.

"The effective date (“Effective Date”) of the initial term (“Initial Term”) of your Maintenance Plan will be the earlier of (i) the date at which you initially purchased the Maintenance Plan, (ii) the date of first activation of the product placed under maintenance and (iii) the date of release of a full or .5 upgrade to the product version for which you purchased this Maintenance Plan, or any other date determined by e-on software in accordance with e-on software’s support policies. "

"Renewal terms of your Maintenance Plan will begin on the anniversary date of the Effective Date, and will continue for one (1) year from the later of the anniversary of the Effective Date and the preceding renewal term."

Ester,
Please check the wording of  "will be the earlier of "  and "(ii) the date of first activation of the product placed under maintenance".

That tells me that your maintenance agreement will start from when you first activated your copy of xStream, and that your maintenance agreement will be backdated to that date.

Technically, you could argue for (iii), but my feeling is that E-On would push for (ii).

Also, if you let your maintenance agreement expire and then want to re-establish it...

"If you wish to reinstate your expired Maintenance Plan, you will be required to agree to the then current e-on software Maintenance Plan Subscription Agreement, and you will be required to purchase at least both the then-current software product release and a Maintenance Plan for that Release. You may also be subject to the payment of additional fees and expenses."

I'm only assuming that from what I read from the Maintenance Agreement.  Ester, I suggest that you contact E-On and get a clarification to your satisfaction before you commit yourself.  I could be wrong and have to eat my words, but from what I've read in the maintenancve agreeement I do not think I am.  I would love for someone to prove me wrong on that.

Cheers,
JoeK