Mistral computer programs are property. The intellectual property of Mistral Associates, which was originally developed and which is constantly maintained at a cost of many millions of Pounds.

The right to gain access to use and benefit from Mistral's intellectual property is therefore chargeable. If you did not pay for that right of access then someone else did pay for it - on your behalf!

A fundamental and simple reason why access to intellectual property can only be gained through application of a key. No different to the key that permits you, or your family and those you choose, to be the ONLY people permitted to enter your home or to drive your car.

A second reason of course is that people who own proprietary information in computer code and databases contained within the programs and of which there are literally hundreds of thousands of pieces of such information, naturally wish to control who has access to that information. Uncontrolled distribution of intellectual property means that ultimately information ends up becoming available to those that might wish harm to the rightful owners. Your competitors for example and thus jeopardising your own employment!

Metal keys can often be easily copied of course. Copies can be 'cut'. Modern car keys often contain chips rendering illegal copies made of them useless. Mistral program access keys can also be easily copied and passed to someone else, however those copies won't work!

It would be illegal to make a copy of a key and pass it to someone else (who probably makes even more copies) with the sole purpose of providing entry or use of something to which the holder of the copy has no legal right. It is exactly the same with Mistral program access keys and even though highly sophisticated IT tools have been employed to identify illegally made program access keys, even who made them and who they were passed to, the fact that those copies won't work makes no difference. To defraud using illegally made copies is attempted theft and as usual in cases of theft, it is illegal.