I agree with you Bob. This has been McAfee's problem for so many years now. I think it started last 2006. Still they're not able to provide solution to it. This is too long sleep for them. It's October now and there's 2009 version, but still same problem occur over and over.
The problem is; the software doesn't even try to connect to the internet when subscription expires. I watched my network traffic when I try to activate my subscription, not a single bit of traffic went on. Even if you disconnect your network connectivity and try to activate, software won't even know that you are not connected to the internet. May this information help McAfee developers address this problem.
I hope they try to resolve this asap.
sad