A request for a digital license associated with a software product is received from a device. The request includes a user ID of a user of the device, with the digital license having been generated in response to a request to activate the software product with a product key. A check is made as to whether a digital license bound to the user ID is available, and also whether the digital license can be returned to the device in accordance with the terms of the digital license. The digital license is returned if the digital license can be returned to the device in accordance with the terms (regardless of whether the device is a same device from which the product key was activated), and otherwise is not returned. The digital license can be removed from the device in accordance with the terms of the digital license.