Right-to-repair activist Louis Rossmann is calling out Autodesk for not honoring lifetime licenses and forcing users into subscriptions.

Many users purchase a lifetime license to avoid costly, ongoing license fees. Unfortunately, it appears that Autodesk has found a way around this, leaving users no option but to convert to a subscription license.

According to Rossman, citing the experience of one Ian Davis, the issue stems from changes in Autodesk’s activation system, which is no longer compatible with older versions of the software. As a result, users of older versions have to use a special transfer utility to move their license from one computer to another.

Unfortunately, if a user is unable to use the transfer utility, they’re left with no choice but to purchase a new subscription. This can happen when a computer completely dies, is stolen, or when the user sells the computer before transferring the license. Another very common scenario that could trigger the issue is when users back up their data instead of creating a bootable copy of their hard drive and then formatting the drive.

The tactic screams of being a bait-and-switch money grab, a way for Autodesk to squeeze its customers for more money and convert them to lucrative subscriptions. As more customers run into this problem, hopefully, it will pressure Autodesk to do more to honor the licenses customers paid for.