While I'll admit that the OP has good points, this particular post is only enphasizing DRM problems that were apparent 2 years ago but those times are changing.
My point is this. Dirt was released at a time when many companies were "experimenting" with DRM. I'm as anti-drm as the next person, but I'm not one of those people that think companies hate consumers and only care about the bottom dollar. They need repeat business to stay profitable, and they wouldn't purposefully screw us over.
You brought up Dirt in good measure. To even mention Starforce is considered blasphemy to many pc gamers, and unfortunately Dirt, which was a good game, was one of many released during that short time period which came with oppressive DRM. That being said, times are changing and Dirt is not representative of the future, nor is even representative of the present. While there are companies that are still playing with various types of DRM, our complaints have not gone unnoticed, and not just by the smaller companies like Stardock. Bioware has publically announced that they are going with a "simple cd check" system, and has stated that they are simply going to have to do the best they can and trust the consumer. Sims 3 has been released with "simple cd check", and EA is considered one of the more oppressive distributers in regards to DRM, so in some ways this can be considered an olive branch of sorts. There are many other games coming down the pipe that are going to be released in similar ways.
I wanted to comment on another topic that manifests itself constantly. PC gaming is not dying. I agree with one of the earlier posters. Piracy generally stays consistant, and in general has not hurt gaming in a serious way. More to the point, console games are pirated nearly 3-1 versus pc games, so those numbers are statistically moot. What has happened, is that production costs have gone up and simple economics require companies to sell more units per release in order to pave the road to future releases. Economies of scale is not a new idea. But, and this is a huge but, this means nothing in the long run because console fatigue always sets in. History has proven this time and time again. Console tech is always frozen in time for 3-6 years before it can be renewed (the PS2 is the acception, since it is the World of Warcraft of game consoles...simply won't die lol). So what ALWAYS happens is that computer tech rapidly outpaces consoles and thus we have new releases like Batman which on the computer graphically destroy the consoles.
So after this wordy post, here are my points :
1. At some point in the future, all game releases are going to be digital release in the style of steam, since its much easier to track usuage and licensing, and yes that will include consoles. Piracy will still occur, but the days of Game Copy World easy mode piracy will be over, especially considering online activity will require a certified account. Blizzard is going to be using Battlenet to this effect. They will sell their own games as well as provide an online drm system.
2. PC gaming will never die...its distribution system will simply change. DRM won't be a problem once we get rid self-sustained media. Remember, we don't buy games, we license them, so this idea that we somehow have a right to play these games forever is moot. True, we got away with it for 15 years, but laws are laws and it was wrong then, and its wrong now. Games are supported till they aren't. Its all about opportunity costs.
3. Gamestop sucks. They are anti-PC since they can't resell used games and screw the developers out of their money. Even for console players, gamestop represents a evil force. Developers/producers get zero money from the sale of used games. You want to get rid of a stain on the gaming market, we need to boycott these guys. Babbages rocked, gamestop sucks, and EB somehow got assimilated by gamestop on the way. Gamestop are Borg.
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