Oh, sheesh! Foreign politics? Take it to the OT Forum if you want to yammer about your leadership and tax rates! Curious Labs makes modeling and animation software: they don't run foreign governments or even this one, and as far as I know don't set foreign customs duties, either. ::roll eyes:: What does any of that have to do with a more than reasonable price for this particular piece of software? I am neither a beta-tester nor an employee of CL, although I am bound by a non-disclosure agreement because I have seen Poser 5 during development. If I say that the program is awesome, it is my honest opinion, based upon 15 years in the games industry and umpteen different operating systems and more software and resultant upgrades than any human should ever have to endure. I'm not on anybody's payroll. (Besides, if I was an employee, I'd have to be a lot quieter and more discreet with any of my opinions.) I'm not alone. I doubt if any of the people who were in my livingroom drooling over Steve's shoulder are any different: we were drooling because Poser 5 is giving us more than we'd imagined or dared hope for. Just the real cloth and all of its dynamics is worth the full price! And we should all be eligible for upgrade prices depending upon what version of Poser we have. Poser 4 with ProPack is $379 Poser 5 with a hell-of-a-lot-more is $549 Think about it. Look at the images Steve posted and look at the animations again... and think about value per dollar. Carolly