And if everything was free, then you'd be trying to light a fire with a few sticks in a cold, damp forest.

Ignorance is no excuse for not knowing the legality of what you're doing. It's very easy to know that mIRC has been shareware for a long time. I obviously found out, since I registered it. If it was that well hidden, then Khaled would have been out of work ages ago..

The program won't stop working. It'll just pester you every day until you break.