Ubisoft does not have the best history when it comes to invasive—if not downright broken—DRM, but the company's upcoming "solution" to game piracy is much worse than anything we've seen in the past. The gist is simple: every time you want to play your game, it has to phone back to Ubisoft before giving you permission to play. No Internet connection? You're simply out of luck.
Ubisoft of course points out that this move has some benefits for games. Now you can access your saved games anywhere! You don't need the disc in the drive! You can play from any computer that has an Internet connection! Brent Wilkinson, Director, Customer Service and Production Planning at Ubisoft, thinks you'll like this decision. "We think most people are going to be fine with it. Most people are always connected to an Internet connection," he told GameSpy.
If you're annoyed when you have to show your receipt to someone when you walk out of an electronics store, Ubisoft is not the company for you. This is like having to show your receipt every time you want to turn on your television. If your Internet goes out, if you're on a flight with no wireless or don't want to pay the fee, or if you're at a hotel that only offers for-pay Internet, you aren't going to be able to to play your games.
"This is fine," one self-professed pirate told Ars. "I only have to access the Internet once to get Ubisoft games. You're the ones paying for a broken copy."
Source: ars technica
