Certainly in my experience of working with vendors, that deal would not only be sweetened, but we wouldn't even consider entertaining the idea of paying anythin

Certainly in my experience of working with vendors, that deal would not only be sweetened, but we wouldn't even consider entertaining the idea of paying anything for such a trial. It would be considered a proof of concept and we'd want to be able to play with it until we were happy. Of course, if we got as far as asking you to remove copy protection, then we're probably way past PoC stage and into serious contract negotiations. I can't help feeling like both parties probably allowed this to happen because they felt it would improve their bargaining position. The Navy possibly felt that by dragging out the negotiation until way after the live deployment is complete, they can keep BS waiting until they go bust or accept a lower price. BS know that once the software is out there with no further negotiations about price, they're in a solid position to charge the full amount, which they can legally enforce if necessary. Then invoice time comes around, the two parties are at completely opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of pricing, and here we are.