Anyone knows what would happen if Gibson goes belly up - and/or if there is a way to complain to any government business regulations that says if you pay for software update - that is now bankrupt...can the government release the software licensing or make it public domain or ...so to say, loose copyright status? Meaning, Sonar and all cake products go open source or whatever? also, were does piracy play into this - such as the latest release having been cracked doesnt need to talk to registration servers and therefore is it ethical to use it since the software is no longer supported? just wondering....still fuming over what to do about my tracking software as long and they dont screw me on my license

I'd think you're barking up the wrong tree.  History is riddled with so many of these.  Right off (and I'm old) I can think of a few that were larger than Cake.  dBASE, CP/M, Lotus, Clipper, and so on.  
 
I've enjoyed this product for I guess about 30 years now.  (first purchased it on a 5.25" floppy).. and I'll continue to do so until it stops (i figure that's another 5 years or so).
 
Business is business, software or physical product.  There are no protections when the business ceases business.
 
disclaimer:  I do not use Cakewalk or any other DAW software as my primary (or secondary) income source.

randyman...(first purchased it on a 5.25" floppy).. 

Wow.. been a while since I saw one of those.  You ARE old.  

the law has never caught up with software (or other digital commerce) nor do i expect that it ever will - although, imagine that software IPs/codebase could be auctioned off like property when a business goes bust...

Well, you don't own any of the software you buy. You just purchase a license to use it and that's it really. I guess the lesson is that you have to consider the possibility that one day the software you use will cease to function. Nothing's guaranteed forever. 
 
I use a web based scheduling/employee management/billing app for my business, and while it's been an absolute boon for me and made my life 1000% easier, it's always at the back of my mind that one day this company might go out of business and shut their servers down. Horrible if it happens, but unless you have the will and the $$$'s to commission your own software, it's something you should always consider. In fact even if you order bespoke software, you're still relying on someone else to maintain and/or update it, and what if they go bust. Just a fact of life really. Everyone wants some kind of catchall legal protection to guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen to them but it's just not viable. 

From the US Copyright Office:
The duration of copyright for works created on or after January 1, 1978: life plus 70 years or 95 or 120 years, depending on the nature of authorship.
 
There is nothing in copyright law about 'abandonware' or other works that are no longer in print. Legally you cannot 'resurrect' abandoned or out of production works, even if you can no longer contact the owner or if the owner is no longer in business.

Sonar will NEVER be freeware. The code has value to Gibson and its creditors. I'd bet $50 that Sonar comes back under a new name, managed by a company other than Cakewalk. It won't be soon, but it will happen. For now it's merely another chip on the table.

codebase should count as an asset, like the coffee machine

Madness abounds everywhere!  STOP THE MADNESS!!!

ampfixer
Sonar will NEVER be freeware. The code has value to Gibson and its creditors. I'd bet $50 that Sonar comes back under a new name, managed by a company other than Cakewalk. It won't be soon, but it will happen. For now it's merely another chip on the table.

Uh oh. A company like MAGIX will scoop it up. Paint the trim. Sell "Platunum" for $299 but never really fix anything unless they hire some of the former devs.