Rendo is entitled to run their business however they wish, totally agree with that, and I get that software piracy is a real issue. But I'm wondering if this lease business is really that smart of a strategy.

At full retail with no discounts or sales etc, Poser costs $200. But for most folks, that's not the real cost of the program. Most people will want to buy content for their Poser figures, and that expense can easily exceed the software purchase price. Point being, best I can tell, Rendo stands to make much more money from selling Poser content than Poser software.

As a new user who generally loves Poser software (with one big exception), and would like to buy content for it, here are the inconvenient questions I'm facing.

1. Why should buy content when I'm not actually going to own it? Whoever runs the license checking server, whether it be Rendo or some future owner, could turn off my access to Poser and my Poser content at any time.

2. Why should I buy content when the content install system of Poser seems almost intentionally designed to discourage new users from buying content?

3. Why should I invest further in Poser when even the most experienced users seem not to grasp that the FUBAR content install system is more of a threat to them than it is to new users? Because of the license checking system, long time users could lose access to their extensive Poser content libraries if Rendo, or some future owner, can't make money selling Poser content to a growing universe of Poser users.

Summary: It seems the leasing system protects the software while putting the content selling side of the business at risk.

Solution? My guess is that Rendo should make a clear minded choice. Either go to the subscription model like so many other 3D services, or allow users to actually fully really own Poser and their Poser content. Trying to keep a toe in both worlds seems a recipe for sales killing controversy to me.