But there is a difference between a suspended plugin/theme vs. removed by author. Hence the question. Thanks again!

Hi, yes as far as i know if the developer pulls the plugin from the store (delete) you will not be able to run the plugin.  However as some devs can attest, we do not take this lightly and we very strongly recommend that the dev put the item back... All the devs i know of have allways put the plugin back, but i am sure some have not in the past.

Also it is this way on every single open source project i know that has plugins.

So no. This isn't the norm. And I've used enough CMS platforms to realize that this is actually crazy! A sites whole functionally can literally disappear overnight depending on the plugins you bought and who decides to pull their work. 

This is crazy.

OK yeah you got me there, i was not thinking of WP because i dont consider WP in the same arena as Oxwall, i still think of WP as just a blog in my mind. I should have been more specific in my comment rather than so global.  But i can tell you i believe if WP sold their plugins rather than having them all for free, even WP would check for license. 

I know alot of developers that refuse to code for WP because its free. Even though developers can have their upgrades and upsell items on their own.  

Thank you for your feedback and my apology for not being more clear and specific.  :)