Why is it that the second someone thinks they can make 2 cents from some mod they IonCube the crap out of it?
I have nothing against protecting your source, or IonCube, or making 2 cents. BUT:
If your product can suddenly no longer be extended, modified, enhanced, etc, by anyone but you it WILL fail horribly and not make a penny.
Imagine a vbAdvanced where nobody could make their own modules. Imagine a vbSEO where you couldn't make custom rewrite rules.
I recently tried a certain store, which shall go unnamed, where you couldn't add your own itemtypes, or modify existing ones (the scant few that existed) in anyway. If it didn't do exactly what you wanted, tough cookies.
Epic fail. A lot of someone's hard work down the drain.
Get a clue fellow developers.