More thoughts from a non pro user...I have to say that this situation is giving me pause to think about how I do things. I'm not a professional user and I'll admit that up front. In fact I'm just a hobbyist who just likes to screw around recording myself playing guitar once in awhile. I have been learning to use SONAR since I got it though just simply because doing that has been fun. I also have and use Reason 10 because I really like playing around with synthesizers I've found in this last 3-4 years.
But now, I'm thinking the best thing for me maybe to just get a Boss BR 800 all-in-one recording unit. At my age (59), all I really need to do is to be able to record myself playing guitar while I can still actually play it. What I don't need is to be subject to the hassles of the music industry in the software industry for something that simple. Some have said this is just business. I understand that as I work in the business world as the database administrator. However as someone pointed out up above this post, this is like having someone sell you a Mazda and then take the keys from you when they go out of business. I would hope that Gibson is smarter than this, but with that Bozo outfit I have no idea what to expect.
So no, this isn't the end of my world. I have plenty of other options as I've tried to state here. However, I have learned not to trust software companies in particular and business in general - especially when it comes to "Lifetime" anything. I'm trying to think in terms of future-proofing my efforts. I feel sorry for Cakewalk employees (in particular) as well as the professional users (in general) here who have come to depend on the software for their living. It makes me grateful that I'm a database administrator because the one thing that business will never go without is Big Data.