"irregardless of the effective start date and initial subscription period of their maintenance program."

When I read this line for the first time, I was under the impression that the person (or persons) who wrote the newsletter was not incredibly familiar with the English language. The construction "irregardless" is a double negative. It means, essentially, ir (not) regardless (without regard) = some measure of regard.

If it is intentional, however, I would imagine that e-on could claim that there was never any actual guarantee that a customer would be able to upgrade to  version 8 for free, if the said customer's maintenance plan expired before its release. 

But, what do I know?