Possibly the expiration date you found is for the domain name, a license for the software is what gives you the permission/ability to use their software. The prices for the licence depend on the company who made the software and how popular/nice to use it is. For a vbulletin(software website babble is using) license its 170 dollars.

And being a noob is sometimes fun cause you get to learn new things and it can be an adventure!