When buying a firewall does a user have to renew the firewall every year i.e the license or is it once you've bought/purchased the firewall you keep it for good and only pay for it once. I've seen on Ebay where they are selling brand new Zone Alarm Pro 6 with lifetime serial. Is this a special deal through Zone Alarm.
Depends on the firewall. For example, LookNStop, there is no annual license BUT there will be a charge for a major version upgrade. In contrast, Kaspersky AntiHacker, for example, has annual license fees. But with most of the commercial firewalls that have an annual license you do not have to renew. You can just pay the initial license fee and stay with the version purchased. But you would then not be able to use any extra features/bug fixes that would come along with later versions. The new AppDefend, although not strictly a firewall, has application network control and has a one-time fee for "lifetime upgrades". And occasionally, some of the commercial FW's have special offers, e.g. OutPost, where you can obtain a "lifetime" license.
There are no lifetime licences given by Zone Labs. ZL sells only 1 year or 2 year licenses. That Ebay advertisment is most likely a hoax and they are most likely selling a cracked version. I know a guy came on the ZA forum and ask about buying ZA from Ebay because he saw a cheap deal. My advice was that Zone Labs does not sanction any Ebay sales. There are only two official ways of geting it: through Zone Labs Online Store(the recommended way) and through authorised resellers. If you can get a good deal on Ebay purchases, go ahead. But make sure you clarify if the license key given to you is valid and is not a cracked copy of ZA. As with any Ebay purchases, make sure that you understand the seller's return/refund policy and that you are happy with it.