While that is true is some cases, it's not true in all. Some pirate because they can't get it otherwise (ex. region exclusions, see Game of Thrones), some because they want to try out a game but there is no trial, and some because they don't want to deal will all the stupid ads and Don't pirate crap on DVD's now (SEE: http://bit.ly/eriKlB) as well as broken DRM management (Sony Music CD's anyone)
Companies try to hurt pirates with DRM but all they hurt are the paying customers, who do not have it easier. The recent fiasco with SimCity is a perfect example of that. Paying customers got screwed because of EA's DRM scheme.
And the long term effect of Steams DRM has yet to be proven. If Steam goes under and we lose all the games we paid for does that still qualify as reasonable or completely borked?
I get that companies want to protect their assets, but applying 19th processes to a 21st century reality is never, ever going to work.
The dumbest thing which happens in the age of digital distribution is region-delayed releases.
This is a thing which makes absolutely no sense: the product can be delivered nearly instantaneously, I have money I am willing to pay for it, and the product is released - on identical hardware - in another part of the world.
Why can I not give you money, for said product, right now?
But don't forget that digital distribution is only relatively recent - it wasn't possible for many people before. (Also, content producers had a weird aversion for peer to peer distribution models, so distribution would have been expensive for them).
So part of the reason is that they're slow to change; they will change, they just haven't got round to it yet.
Another part of the reason is that Americans are rich, so they get charged more. People in country X are poor, so they get charged less. Price differentiation is a strong reason for region locking. But, as you say, it's dumb, and some content producers know it's dumb and are moving away from it.
While that is true is some cases, it's not true in all. Some pirate because they can't get it otherwise (ex. region exclusions, see Game of Thrones), some because they want to try out a game but there is no trial, and some because they don't want to deal will all the stupid ads and Don't pirate crap on DVD's now (SEE: http://bit.ly/eriKlB) as well as broken DRM management (Sony Music CD's anyone)
Companies try to hurt pirates with DRM but all they hurt are the paying customers, who do not have it easier. The recent fiasco with SimCity is a perfect example of that. Paying customers got screwed because of EA's DRM scheme.
And the long term effect of Steams DRM has yet to be proven. If Steam goes under and we lose all the games we paid for does that still qualify as reasonable or completely borked?
I get that companies want to protect their assets, but applying 19th processes to a 21st century reality is never, ever going to work.