Quote:
Originally Posted by sirmaru
Steam has solved the problem for games. There is NO DRM on their games. You can backup your game but it cannot run unless you receive an unlock file linked to your PC from Steam.
If you upload that game file to a "sharing site," no downloader can use it. So far as I know no one has been able to defeat the Steam method for games.
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You keep using that word, but I do not think you know what it means.
Not being able to run the game without connecting to use Steam's decryption is DRM. Other forms of DRM include CD disc checks or installing malware that attempts to limit how you can use your computer like Sony's rootkits or StarForce. Steam can enforce always-online DRM, or it can only require check-ins every so often, and games on Steam often come with other forms of DRM as well.
There are DRM-free games on Steam, because developers and publishers can choose whether to apply Steam's DRM or not, but Steam is typically used as a form of DRM, and what you are describing is a form of DRM.
DRM-free is not the same thing as pirated. GOG.com, Baen Ebooks, Smashwords, many of the various bundle sites like Indie Royale and other indie game sites all sell titles DRM-free. These are current businesses making money for themselves and for rightsholders by selling games or books DRM-free.