I didn't know they sell floating licenses, that is interesting. I think the fact that this is available for large clients shows that the default is giving up a

I didn't know they sell floating licenses, that is interesting. I think the fact that this is available for large clients shows that the default is giving up a lot of freedom though, and that there is demand for more. With regards to the perpetual license, this is rooted in a promise from the company that they will continue to license it "perpetually", not that it is impossible for them to shut down your software. What happens if their licensing servers go down, or they decide that you as a user are so egregiously in breach of their contract that they cannot continue their perpetual license? This can be due to arbitrary restrictions, such as a local government passing laws which do not allow them to continue their license. Consider if an old version of the Unity engine is in violation of GDPR, for example. They would not be legally able to continue perpetual licensing for their product, and they would be forced to shut you down. That is not ownership, and do not let anyone fool you into thinking it is.