It's a real shame when it comes to this, isn't it? You have to resort to the very thing they are combating, because their combat strategy is more friendly fire than it is enemy engagement.

I was able to reinstall my old boxed copy of Suite 11, so at least it sort-of runs under Windows 7. Mostly need some version of PhotoPaint in order to host the plugins that I also bought. But I'm still going to try to migrate to another product, as I don't want to be tied to this thing any more.

I've had success with failing customer support in the past by stating my intention to visit headquarters. Nobody at HQ wants to deal with an annoyed customer directly. It happened that Allaire's HQ was one town over, so I was convincing. The next day, I had an apology and my questions were answered properly. (Though the answers were along the lines of: "We never actually properly implemented the functions you are trying to use.")

The message would go something like this:

[brief description of problem]
[support has not resolved this to my satisfaction]
[this is a $xxx problem]
[I have a meeting at (town local to HQ) on (date), and will be visiting your HQ that morning to resolve my problem]

Ideally, some VP then tells support, "If this guy shows up at my office, it's your ass. Solve it."

Ironically, I can't name any such company, which is what you're asking, but I know there are such companies around.
Of course, most of them are very small companies, often selling only one product. I don't think any big companies have ever offered that.

Then again, this is also a trick question. Many companies make a difference between updates and upgrades. There are several companies which offer free software updates, but take money for all upgrades, or at least have some limit on those (such as one free upgrade). I believe this is how most commercial image editor licences work.

GOG? :P

Ok, to be fair that's a slightly different situation (publisher vs software company), but many smaller game studios do. Look at Mojang with Minecraft, which is still receiving free updates and will be for the foreseeable future. Or look at Terraria, which has been less commercially successful than Minecraft but has still nearly doubled its content in free additions. There are others, too, but those are the ones which spring to my mind.

One question actually.
Why instead of letting the damned thing update, didnt you just use a program control firewall to block it communicating on the net at all like the majority of people i know that use such software (including adobe etc) do?!??
Unless (like ArtRage) it has an openly permanent licence and is DRM free, then I ten dto block such things myself knowing they'll just try and launch a horde of Schwarzenegger lookalikes at me with big guns one day! O___o

Good point, and I should be using that terminology (updates vs. upgrades) to make a distinction. This was Update 1, basically a free Service Pack fixing all that was wrong with the release. Or in my case, all that was right.

Two part answer:

1) I didn't realise the update was going to invalidate my key. Like a fool I assumed that a license in perpetuity meant just that.

2) After the first occurrence of the message, I did go into my firewall to see if I could stop it and at least extend the grace period until I could contact support. But I didn't find any rules for it in the firewall, either inbound or outbound. So they must have been disguising the communications as another process. This doesn't surprise me, as big software companies have been acting like rootkit developers for years now.

I suppose the lesson here is that even if I'm not going to be a pirate, I need to act like one, since major companies are going to treat me like I already am one. I'm taking suggestions for firewalls more aggressive than the one that comes with Windows, since that doesn't appear to be cutting it. And anything else that will help me keep companies from stealing back the shite I buy from them.

I'm glad I got into Open Source early. At this rate the only software I'll actually be buying anymore will be from GOG.

I ... look at Corel oddly since they are clearly the #2 banana. They are big though, so I guess the "rootkit mentality" does make a little sense.

Ah, we are entering a world where we must license everything. (rant) Remember Divx, the DVDs that would self-destruct after a period of time? Guess what's happening to electronics. And the auto industry. (/rant)

Actually, one more bit of venting, semi-unrelated to Sinistar's:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

Oh, have you tried the PortableApps version of GiMP? It's just like installing something off GoG (or DOS) in that it doesn't need to modify stuff from the registry (I presume you're using Windows) and works as a standalone program. (It won't even ask for updates.)