Crassmaster: I will note that the retail version of Anno 1404 (Dawn of Discovery) has had the DRM removed (the patch notes for the retail version mentioned DRM removal)...any copy bought online still uses Tages, though.
drmlessgames : Are you honestly saying that you consider COMPUTER GAMES an instrinsic right? You put them up there with food and water and shelter? If so, do everyone a favor and grow up. I am sick and tired of PC gaming drama queens crying about how their games have been taken from them like it's comparable to blood in terms of necessity to life.
drmlessgames: Entertaintment is something we all need. Some countries like Finland recognized broadband internet access as a right, like food and shelter. They wrote it in their regulations. So maybe they're not needed for sustaining life, but they are important. And they are certainly NOT a paid service for hire.
First of all, having read up on what the Finns said, the move towards broadband internet access was made to improve quality of life for people in extreme rural areas and to boost business and banking access. There's no mention of "And let little Timmy (or the Finnish equivalent) play him some Counterstrike."
Secondly, food and shelter are not rights so much as life necessities if you want your life to continue. Comparing food, without which you will die, to entertainment is downright simplistic and stupid.
Third, even IF Finland was all about the gaming, uhhh...did they put a DRM-free stipulation in there? No? So then, how exactly has Ubisoft's server system defied it? Oh, it hasn't at all? So that argument doesn't even make sense in the context of the overall discussion? Great!
And yes, entertainment is most definitely a paid service for hire. Do you pay for TV? movies? music? games? A night out? All of these things cost MONEY, as in you have to HIRE them to entertain you.
Again, can we please stop whining like a two year old having a fit and blowing the issues of the PC community completely and wildly out of proportion? It's tiresome and it's pathetic.