Valentin,
I think IBM is using the "Key" to give them an
opportunity to call you at the end of the 30 days.
They called me about 2 weeks after I ordered the
free CD "to see if it installed OK." There are also
a lot of "hackers" that could easily defeat a timestamp
and a timed key would make it a bit harder. We are not
talking about a $10 shareware package here.
I haven't installed it yet, as I am not quite ready
to upgrade to 2000, but should be after I purchase
some upgrade software at the computer show in Norfolk,
this weekend.
Ciao,
Metricman