>Anyway just doesn't seem fair that when I pay for something and it's mine, that suddenly there are all these rules saying what I can and can't do with it on my own machine.

You are only buying a "licenses" to "use" VFP, you never own the product. That is the same for all software licenses. Even many open/shared source applications have license restrictions and limitations on ownership.

For as long and as much as I can remember, licensing agreements have never allowed for this, and not just in VFP either. I guy I know once fixed an HP printer driver when laser printers first came out. He thought it would be a nice gesture to provide HP with the fix. Boy, was he wrong.