Mmm... that sort of hypothesis can't really be quantified, unfortunately, without surveying all your customers whether they bought their software due to a previ

Mmm... that sort of hypothesis can't really be quantified, unfortunately, without surveying all your customers whether they bought their software due to a previous pirated copy (and getting honest answers). I don't think the number is zero, as seen in this thread. But overall I don't think humans are that altruistic. :) This is probably particularly true for user-oriented niche software (like the software in question, premium flight sim DLC). Some software in the past (eg Adobe Photoshop) that was marketed primarily for businesses possibly benefited a little from consumers pirating it, but again, that "benefit" is hard to quantify as well. The reason I like the "time bomb" approach though is that I think it gives a bit of a "push" to anyone who is actually using your product extensively. If they aren't using your product enough to care to pay for it, it's probably not a big deal if they stop using your software. If the "time bomb" is at a reasonable period, I have serious doubts that they'd suddenly decide n months later (with no time bomb) that it's all of a sudden worth it to pay for software the have for "free". I don't think niche products unfortunately can do what mass market products are doing these days... which is switching business models towards ones where piracy can be controlled a bit more or is less of a big deal. (Freemium / DLC, cloud-based, subscription-based, etc.) In fact the only alternative model I see for niche is the Kickstarter one where the consumers themselves front the initial business costs (which can work out for consumers sometimes, and not work out other times).