If you're a PC gamer then you've probably been subject to the news that both Mass Effect and Spore are going to require an online activation and subsequent re-activations every ten days. This piece of news has caused quite a bit of internet buzz over the discussion of whether or not these games should even have anti-piracy protection or not. Some say yes, some say no and others are somewhere in-between.

The guys over at Opposable Thumbs have created one of their "The Showdown" articles wherein two of their writers flip a coin to decide which side of the argument they'll represent.
We here at Big Download dislike piracy as much as the next person, but what gets under our skin even more are anti-piracy programs that go too far and cause issues with our games. The issue -- to us, at least -- depends on whether or not these ten day activation cycles are going to cause problems when we try to play Mass Effect or Spore.

While complaining about an online enabled anti-piracy program may be a moot point with a game like Spore, where online enabled content is a major feature anyway. We would like to point out the games like Sins of a Solar Empire have done exceedingly well in sales without any sort of anti-piracy software. Our take is that if a game is worth playing and supported be the developer after it releases to market, then anti-piracy software is largely a moot point. People have been stealing things since the dawn of people owning things and unfortunately it's never going to stop.

Although with the advent of digital distribution platforms such as Steam, piracy could end up going the way of the Dodo along with brick and mortar stores. We can only hope.