People that really wants it for free will get it for free anyhow. On the other hand, no DRM is definitely not the solution. There has to be a balance.

I think companies should just put just enough DRM to prevent casual copying i.e. so easy that you can copy it any dvd burning software, but not so restrictive that it hampers every day usage. I think a simple activation is the solution like Windows XP for a period of time then release a patch to remove the check.

I agree with the article. DRM justifies piracy. However, the new Sims game (sans-DRM) hasn't even been released yet and is on track to beat Spores number of illegal downloads. This is like a spit in the face to publishers that think people will magically start buying DRM-less games. Sure, DRM increases piracy but does no DRM increase piracy more?

Steam is the way to go I think.

that picture is so awesome (i laughed so hard)

i hate all these types of copy protection apps (like starforce)

but pirating games is a serious issue these days...

i for myself wouldnt want to be a games developer right now *sarcasm*

If you like the Game and want to have it... BUY IT!!!
its easy as that *you should have figured that out by yourself*
(otherwise it might be the last game you pirate from that particular studio ;-))

"general consensus" is a common mistake.

you should say "consensus" without adding "general".

because "consensus" means:

(Agreement in the judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole)

A good way to use this is:

"those rights and obligations are based on an unstated consensus"

PC games do get pirated a lot, an awful lot. But see the big picture here. OMG 1 Million copies have been downloaded! 1st, where does this info come from, if it would be so easy to track the prisons would be full. 2nd, 1 Million is a large number, but it gets crushed in comparison. Yes, in the console world a million is huge, but on the PC? Try an installbase of over 250 million people, give or take.

And whoever thinks every downloaded game would, in a piracy free world, count as 1 sold copy, has to wake up. Such stupidity is unbelievable. I've downloaded Terminater Salvation to try it out. Well first of all, the installer didn't work, on the legit copies as well btw, so I had to find a somewhat illegal way to install it manually. Then, the game crashed during the intro sequence, after fiddling with the compatibility mode I passed through. Then after playing it for 10 minutes I deleted it and never looked back. I only downloaded it out of curiosity, if there wouldn't be a copy to download I would simply ignore it since movie licensed games tend to suck anyway, but you know, curiosity.

In this particular case, it has taken me longer to set up the game so it actually was ready to play (The same would have to be done with the legit version), than to realize it's not what I like.

Did I mention there is no demo? No that I know of anyway. So you would either have to rent or buy the game to tell if it sucks or not. Either way, you'd have to spend some money on something you may not even like. Oh, right, I live in Germany, 18+ Games are a no go here. Some get released, some get censored. Most of the time I end up importing from the UK.

No demo, renting not an option, some games have to be imported. From that perspective it pretty much makes a lot of sense to just download the damn game you wouldn't touch anyway.