Creative Labs charges a fee for working EAX + Direct Sound 3D

I have had a lot of faith in the PC industry for a long time now. However my blood began to boil somewhat when I found out that Creative is going to charge $9.99 for their ALchemy support software in Microsoft Vista. I understand the fee from the manufacturer standpoint but it is quite lame to charge a fee for all users. Surely users who have bought their sound cards since the launch of MS Vista shouldn't have to pay!

http://www.buy.soundblaster.com/_creativelabsstore/cgi-bin/pd.cgi?frompage=category&page=product_detail&fromcategory=Software&category=Software&pid=F2222X767VHL73GYR38