All of this in defense of piracy. The thing that these people don't realize is the pirates will always get theirs, and they'll be laughing about all this ruckus over users rights. PCs are far too complex to create a perfect system that no amount of time and energy on the part of pirates can overcome.
What I really want to address however is the opening statement Brendan makes. Specifically the part about Steam. While I'm not a fan of DRM, I understand the reason for it's existence (to soothe the fears of investors that don't know programming logic from a grocery list) but that doesn't mean that this is the only purpose a system like this can aspire to. Valve took this idea and turned it into a fantastic sales platform, delivery method, and social network. Steam decided that if they have to check that copy of Civilization you have to make sure you paid for it, why can't it use that same connection to deliver updates, mods, and keep cheaters in line? Why not use the distinct advantage digital distribution offers to regularly save gamers obscene amounts of money for something they were going to buy anyway? As for the losing battle against the willpower of the customer, I agree wholeheartedly. Not everyone reads the news, does research on where their money goes, or *gasp* reads the EULA. This needs to change.
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