On the other hand however Microsoft does not make me pay for each update they develop for Windows. They get downloaded for FREE because I have already purchased the original software and the updates are there only to IMPROVE the original purchase.
Personally I believe (although I do not have a clue what the product is about) that if they wanted to charge money then they should have sold a new release and not provide updates for the old release in exchange of money.
Is this some community based software/hardware. In that case the developers may be in need of that some extra cash to continue. If the market is small then they will try to squeeze all they can from it.
Finally; are you sure you do not have some small link on the page which says "continue to download"? I did come across such "free" software which had a donation page before you could actually download. However they always have that small link
Regards,
Sim085
