I had a job that I took on right before Katrina, and even though I had no power, I stayed on schedule (I wound up delivering one day late, because I didn't have power for the upload and had to wait until the people down the street with a generator were home). I started seeing red flags when all my friends in the industry told them they were being approached to finish the project, so I put in a back door "just in case." Two weeks later, no payment, and no one would return my phone calls. One month later, still no payment. The month after that, the software shut itself off, with a message similar to what you suggest. I never did see payment on that--I don't think they were solvent. IDK that I'd do this today. It's a different climate, both from a security stand point and a legal standpoint.