My post generated so many stupid replys so very quickly... sigh (one reply and then I'm dropping this):
The same way you should blame the terrorist if your civil rights are taken away?
I wish sometimes people would think.
The ends don't justify the means, people accept measures being taken for e.g. preventing piracy, but sometimes you can go too far.
The ends don't justify the means?! You make this registration thing out to be such a hardship. You end up sacrificing 30 mbs of HD space for Steam, logging in and authenticating ONE time, and then playing in offline mode (if it bugs you this much).
As for your civil rights anecdote, give me a freaking break. Are you expecting the ACLU to come defend your right to unprotected software? Is your very way of life being threatened by activation? This is hardly as serious an issue as the degradation of civil liberties in Our Modern World.
I think Beamer pretty much took care of Squirrel's hamfisted attempt at analogy, so I'll move on to
MapleBob's post:
Maybe if Valve is so afraid of being ripped off, they should work on the games but just not release them.
Yeah, great idea! (note: sarcasm) Since they're concerned with their game not making them any money, they should spend all their money on development, and then just not sell it! Wonderful plan!
Bottom Line: This activation hardly inconveniences you. The spyware you are infected with every time you attempt to pirate a game (in retalliation or however you justify it) is a much greater threat to your computer use.
Quit whining, send a few packets to Valve, then go into offline mode. You shouldn't be using an internet connection anyway, it probably compromises your (apparently ridiculously high) standards of security and privacy.
I eat pasta!