The story reminded me of my childhood fantasies to own my own robot, and later to have an Aibo robot dog. It's obvious that as soon as technology develops far enough, we will create electronic lifeforms to serve us, perhaps completely digital at first, but eventually in the physical world. Chiang paints a realistic picture of how digital characters might come to have their own motivations, feelings and personalities.
Already sold out of the print version, you can head to the publisher's website to it read online for free.
[Hattip, New World Notes]
I cannot see where licensing issues would apply, the PLM software product itself would be sold on a per seat or network basis, with a annual upgrade fee.