You see, they sort of assume that if you were able to get the heck online and buy their game and download it you have internet access on the PC you want to install the game. It's not unreasonable at all for them to take this thing for granted.
If you didn't have internet access on the PC you would of got the game on disk and all of your problems would of been avoided.

Technically, they already have a disclaimer:
NOTE: Internet connection is required for performing the installation process.
Found in the HELP and FAQ section: http://www.gamersgate.com/info/faq?search=install

By that logic you could also claim that retail stores is a form of DRM - they require you to hand over a pre-determined sum of money before you can take your game home.
Confirmed again. Backup the installation folder while the installer is running and you should be all set.

I beg to disagree.
We here at GOG enjoy the right of being able to install our purchased games without any form of internet connection. Hence, they are labeled as 100% DRM Free.
On the other hand, GG also labels some of their games DRM Free but requires you to connect to the internet.
It's not a matter of the obvious "duh" thing. It's a simple matter of mislabeling.

Yup. DRM is just so poorly defined that it is really nigh-impossible to be DRM-free. That is why everyone has their own definition that (usually) is "If I don't mind, it isn't DRM". Hence, why so many people think that Starforce (or Activation Model Securom) were the first instances of DRM in gaming.

No, it's a matter of taking the exception for granted and applying it to the default stance which is, if you buy digital media you should have an internet connection on the device you're buying it for as it is understood that that is the device you're actually buying it from.
The whole encryption is to verify that you don't pass your bought installer to a 3rd party, thus actively pirating it. If you want to be in the clear you pass your username and password along to verify ownership (which I for one don't see as DRM).
It's the same as walking out of a store with a product you bought somewhere else but is also available in the store you just walked out of and being asked to show the receipt for that product.

True. Though that was about the time that the DRM term was introduced, so I think a lot of people use a definition something like "copy protection introduced long before the DRM term was coined is not DRM, everything introduced more recently is DRM"

See, I don't see copy protection as DRM because in my mind all copy protection does is verify if you are indeed the owner of the product (CD key, online activation, encryption, dongle etc.). DRM is something that actively manages the way you can use the software after authentication (number of installs, needing to be connected in order to use the software, calling home regularly etc.).

No, it's not just a buzz-word.
No, it's not, technically or any other way.
No, the website verifies login data so that each of us only have acesss to our files. How you're given acess to your files and how you're 'forced' to use your files are two very different things. Login procedures focus on legitimate acess, DRM focus on legitimate use AFTER you were already given acess.
The fact that people are willing to accept some forms of DRM because they think of them as not too draconian/intrusive doens't make them any less DRM, just as it doesn't dilute the differences between an 'acceptable DRM' model and a FREE DRM model.

Okay, Impulse isn't DRM then. I mean, the login procedure and the like only focus on legitimate access (I learned that you can't download games when Impulse is down :p).After you are given access, you never need to run Impulse again. Admittedly, you have to re-run it every time you re-download stuff, but you have to log-in to GoG every time you redownload stuff. So if GoG doesn't count as DRM, neither does Impulse.
Holy crap, Stardock beat CD Projekt! They had DRM-Free gaming first! :p.
And before people lynch me: I actually wouldn't refer to GoG as having DRM outside of proving a point. But by the (incredibly poorly defined) definition of the term, it does. Just like how disc-checks and the old "Page 5, Paragraph 4, Word 4" (loading, if you are playing Aladdin) were also DRM, but most people wouldn't call them that.

No. if you're forced to run a client to redownload your stuff and more importantly to get the up to date versions of the products you purchased, it's DRM. It's tame, it's acceptable, it's whatever you want, but it's DRM.

So the client is the issue now?
Okay, (some flavors of) Activation-Model Securom isn't DRM. You only have to authenticate when you first install the game, and never again. No client with that :p
Getting updates is the issue?
Then it is a damned good thing that GoG almost never patches stuff. But does that mean that the games that got quiet patches are actually DRM'd? I mean, you need to re-authenticate to get the update.
Face it, GoG is tame, GoG is acceptable, GoG is whatever you want, but it's (technically) DRM. :p
Now, I fully agree that the intent is (probably) drastically different. But you can't really measure things by intent.

You'd have to redownload updated versions of GOG games too (if/when they update games). So that point is somewhat moot. The only real difference is that backed up Impulse games require the use of the client to reinstall them whereas GOG games don't.

The issue is with everything that hampers your use of your product. Forced clients, activations, checks, etc.
If you're forced to use a client to update your product, that hampers your use. If you're forced to authenticate online even just once at install, that hampers your use.
What you think of the many DRM models out there doesn't matter one bit, as the differences between all of them and a DRM Free model like are pretty obvious.

The difference might seem subtle but it makes all the difference in the world in a DRM free prespective.

So it matters if you have to authenticate JUST ONCE when you are trying to install? :p
Log-out of your account and go download a GoG. Don't forget to authenticate by logging in to access the download links :p
I know, you don't need to authenticate beyond the download. But in that case, just go archive your impulse and GG games the old fashioned way (7z :p), and bam. DRM-free!
And the differences ARE pretty obvious. "If I don't feel inconvenienced, it is DRM-free. Otherwise, it is DRM". But again, that becomes very subjective. YOUR definition of DRM and MY definition of DRM might not include GoG, but the definition itself does :p