Doktur,
this approach has been mentioned before. yes they know exactly the number of free and or paid license that are being used. if a free license is not generated and activated within a matter of call it 24 hours, account could deactivate, requiring a request for approval and reactivation of the account.

you are right, if a person is using a free license, there should be a forum, with limited topics, heavily moderated to stay just to those topics, and then once they move into the paid environment see more at whatever level, then their level of access would change as well.

there are so many who complain about the five bux or $20/month, i personally think the $20/ could be considered a bit much unless you are an author or a professional selling services or products, then its worth it. currently expertzzz charges $10.00/day, which would be $300/month there abouts for an advert, where if you utilize this premium system, you are paying a scotia bit less than $0.67/day for advertising.

now from an advertising and marketing standpoint, that is more than a fair price. if you are not going to be posting to the 'market' as it has been coined, then you by no means need to pay the $20/month. if you are a current license holder, it has already been stated that you will move directly into the advanced membership level.

change is coming and change is due.

Regards,
DosDawg