What bothers me the most is that, in my limited view, these companies can do shady stuff like that, close down and it's end of story. What's in place to punish the owners so they have less incentive to try this again?

This extends to startups that sign support contracts for their products X years in the future and go belly up, leaving customers with dead weight equipment. A colleague, frustrated at such an event, said he would seek legal reparations to which he heard back "who are you going to sue? The company doesn't exist anymore" and that was it.

What's in place to go after irresponsible individuals in those situations?

EDIT: I understand there are risks in every business negotiation. Would this be an example of customer naivety (in not performing due diligence before acquiring products/service from companies if they expect long-term support?) Is the customer to blame for not knowing how to properly play this game?