I bought my commercial licence of REAPER before that wording was added (there was much debate over what exactly constituted commercial use). Recording and mixing form a very small part of my business (events, productions) and certainly doesn't exceed the £15,000 ($20,000) threshold set by REAPER. And then most of my recording is location recording, using hardware (HDD and CF multitrack and stereo recorders), REAPER only being used for mixdown...
See where I'm going? I guess it's down to your own conscience, seeming as this whole model is based on trust. I trialled REAPER for some months in the early days, not sure it would do what I wanted, I bought a non-comm licence while I threw some jobs at it, when I knew it was the DAW for me I bought the commercial licence (when I built a workstation so I could use it properly).
Are you using it as part of a viable commercial enterprise turning over $20k? If you feel it's not part of the money machinery and you feel ok about that, then I doubt Cockos will be breaking your door down. If you are running multiple copies on a lucrative production facility on a non-comm licence then you know you are doing wrong. Work out where you fit in and make your decision, Cockos give you the choice.
I'm personally very happy with my commercial licence. I don't get "non-comm" on my main window in front of my clients, Justin gave me a very reasonable upgrade price for v4 and I feel I did the right thing. I think that's how you must view it; are you doing the right thing. If you go looking for loopholes and try to justify to yourself things you know are not true then you're behaving like a commercial banker or a solicitor.
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