When I read this title, I think of an entirely different form of attack than what the authors were thinking off. And I think this kind of attack should be of serious concern also.
An Unauthorized Deactivation Attack (my definition) is an attack by the rights owner (e.g. Sony) or virus writer or writers unknown but probably employed by guess who against the licensees (Joe Customer) to revoke or limit the usability of what they purchased in violation of the license agreement at the time they purchased it, without any violation of the license by the licensee.
For example, Sony might (and I wouldn't put it past them) make playing "Get Right With The Man Version 3" revoke all your licenses to "Get Right With The Man Version 2" without any warning in the agreement you got with Version 2 or Version 3.
Or, a virus mysteriously targets licenses of "Get Right With The Man" versions 1, 2, and 3, destroying them, just before the release of version 4.
Gordon L. Burditt