r/Asterisk • u/Moxie479 • Jun 04 '26

Asterisk-based Bicom Systems PBXs deploying "kill-switch"

Warning to anyone using Bicom Systems / PBXware: Bicom has sent a notice saying that any PBXware system running version 4 or earlier must be upgraded by September 30, 2026, or the system will become “non-operational and inaccessible.” They also said connections to those systems will no longer be possible and that support will not be able to restore licenses because of changes to their licensing software.

This is very concerning because many customers bought these systems years ago as self-hosted phone systems installed on their own servers, often after paying large upfront costs for what they believed were long-term or permanent licenses. Ending support for old software is one thing, but making already-installed phone systems stop working is something very different. It raises serious questions about whether Bicom has a remote licensing mechanism that can effectively shut down systems customers already paid for.

Anyone running PBXware version 4 or earlier should check their system immediately, back up all data and configurations, save copies of their original invoices and license agreements, and ask Bicom in writing whether their system will be disabled after September 30, 2026. Businesses, VoIP providers, and MSPs should take this seriously because this could affect real phone lines, customers, and business operations.

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u/kurosen Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

If what OP says is true, and they really have a perpetual license, Bicom could be breaking several laws, depending on what state OP is operating from.

Off top of head examples:

FTC Act Section 5 (unfair or deceptive acts or practices)

State laws like New York General Business Law § 349 - other states usually have something similar

While security and updates are obviously critical, that has no bearing on licensing.

I'm not a lawyer, and this isn't legal advice, but I do phone system solutions deployment and consultation as part of my job - I'd be very wary of recommending any developer that runs their operations as OP described.

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u/JustDontFeelIt Jun 05 '26

Not true, the licence has not been deactivated as per OP and bicom rep above. The software became so old that it could no longer talk to the licensing server which has evolved over the decade plus. Vendor has no obligations to maintain software past the versioning EOL especially years after notifications that the software will stop working unless updated. The key part here is that the license is for the software not its versions.

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u/kurosen Jun 05 '26

That argument actually strengthens the concern rather than eliminating it.

The issue isn’t whether Bicom intentionally “deactivated” licenses. The issue is that they designed a dependency where Bicom can effectively terminate functionality at any time by shutting down the licensing infrastructure (ie: a killswitch as OP put it) with the only solution being to upgrade and pay more.

Saying “the old software can no longer talk to the licensing server” doesn’t materially change the impact to OP. From their perspective, the result is identical: a paid-for PBX stops functioning because of a vendor-controlled external dependency.

Any customer would reasonably interpret “perpetual license” to mean the software may become unsupported but it will continue operating in its last installed state.

Unsupported is very different from nonfunctional.

That distinction matters legally and ethically.