As of January 1st, 2011, SlySoft will no longer offer lifetime update and support subscriptions for new orders.

Existing lifetime subscriptions purchased prior to this date will not be affected, the company said.

"We are committed to Fair Use and, therefore, want to maintain our high standards, frequent updates, a well-trained and dedicated customer support and to enable everybody to create backups of their media. Technological change has happened extremely fast in recent years. This has led to significantly higher development costs, which must be taken into account," said Peer van Heuen, head of High-Definition technologies at SlySoft.

SlySoft started business in 2003 with lifetime update and support subscriptions, with the company's customers to receive new updates at least once a month for seven years now.

"In 2009, we reacted to the financial crisis and introduced subscriptions which turned out to be a great success as customers with tight budgets could enjoy our products by purchasing timed subscriptions, Slysoft's CEO said. "Instead of increasing our prices, we will solely cease offering lifetime update and support subscriptions for new orders placed after December 31, 2010."