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What I think you are confusing is the difference between tangible and intangible products. Software, by it's nature, is intangible. You cannot hold software. You cannot see software. It's simply electronic imprints. Businesses need a reasonable way to protect the investment put into their products. When dealing with tangible products, like the Cobb Accessport, they factor in the cost or production of the unit and the initial up front cost of developing the software, then sell the product as a one off. Cobb makes their profit of the initial sale of the device.
With software, especially software like EcuTek, where this is no tangible object associated with the product, companies will "license" the software. When you purchase a product like this, the company is granting you permission to use their work product. EcuTek is still the owner of the software, so you, as the licensee, have no right of first sale. The Windows analogy another person mentioned here is the same. When you purchase a copy of Windows, you purchase a license to use that software on one PC. Sure, you can sell the physical CD the product came on, but in order for that person to install and use it, you must "deactivate" your installation or Microsoft will force that user to buy a new license.
As it stands right now, this is the standard business model for software companies.
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