Make it target-dependant which IP addresses you send to whom. I've thought about this for copy-protection (but haven't told anybody). You can give every downloader his/her own copy of your executable with a fresh MD5. Make the executable contents (the IP address list) IP address dependant. Better yet, get 128 of them and give out a set of 64, based on the IP address and some awkward hash of the IP address. That way, every user has half of the targets (making the chance of finding a working host really big) but no country can get the full list (since they lack a few bits in the IP address range they use).

An idea?

Of course, you can keep swapping the IP addresses monthly/weekly or so to add to this.

Theft: Removing something that wasn't in your posession, in order to have the advantages for yourself and accepting that you are depriving somebody else from their advantages.
Embezzlement: Removing something that was in your posession but not yours, in order to have the advantages for yourself and accepting that you are depriving somebody else from their advantages.
Copying (music, video, software etc.): Making a copy of something, in order to have the advantages yourself, without depriving anybody else from their advantages.

No, sorry, this isn't theft. It isn't even embezzlement. When you steal my car, I am without a car. When you embezzle the money I lent you, I'm left without that money. When you copy my software, I still have everything I had before.

Do you want me to have the content or not?

If you want me to have the content, you can't make me unhave the content.
If you don't want me to have the content, *just sod off already*.

There's no place for DRM in the world. It's fundamentally flawed at its principles.

Consider the use cases for the game player:

1. I buy the game. I go to a physical brick&mortar store, I locate the game, pay for it and bring it home. I infest my computer with DRM software I didn't ask for, click through horrible install processes that are actually pointless, enter a 40+ digit entry code and then can play the game - that I never played so far. If I didn't like it, I'm essentially screwed.

2. I download the game. I don't even have to get dressed, it's delivered at high speed into my bedroom. I install it, which is an easy process that does not install outside of the target directory. No nagware, no infestation, no DRM. No CD required, I can use it for another CD. No Cd key required, or I can copy/paste it from some other tool. If I like the game I can send money their way, but that's a conscious "I like it" choice. If I don't like it, I don't lose my money and I don't get to go through a lengthy process to return it.

Can you imagine anybody considering pirating games?

How about:
- Make it easy to install
- Make it painless to use
- Make it simple to remove completely
- Make it easy to return for full refund within X days (>= 8)
- Make it run properly on my PC
- Make it so cheap that I can fit it in the cracks of my budget (like $10-20).

In that category, I recently bought Portal. It fits all except for the easy install and the full refund. It's still annoying because it's on Steam which is a load of shit (that already corrupted its install once) and I can't give the CD to somebody else and expect them to use it like I do with my car (for instance).