FYI piracy of games is not as big an issue as it is made out to be.
Game development is still one of the mostlucrative markets there is in America (and many other countries).
The fact is that most people who pirate games were not going to buy it anyway, and there is nothing they can do to stop that.
I buy games I like, and don't buy games I don't. However, when a company does something like this, it is like was stated above, putting undue stress on the ones who follow the rules.
PS: It seems I spoke to soon, steam needing the net to play HL2 SP is only the beginning of the wave of problems with steam. Just reading the steam EULA is enough to stop me from installing it.