Keep in mind that different user accounts on any given WinXP setup will require additional BioShock activations
We know that out of the box (or straight off of Steam or Direct2Drive) that there will be a limit to the number of times you can install BioShock for the PC before you require some... assistance from 2K Games. BioShock's SecuROM DRM is designed to push its "fair use" by preventing the game (or its ISO image) from being installed over multiple PCs.
However, users have voiced concerned over the DRM's clear inconveniences. For example, reinstalling Windows XP itself may require gamers to use another "activation" from their copies of BioShock afterwards, depending on the nature of the OS "re-provision". One issue which may not be as obvious, but no less bothersome, is that a new activation is also required when changing user accounts on a given Windows XP PC. Here's how a 2K technical support moderator from the 2K discussion boards explains the reasoning for this:
The other way to view this, is one USER has purchased the game. Not the whole family. So why should your brother play for free?
So if your family has only one PC and your brother wants to play BioShock "for free" after you've bought it, let him play when he's in your user account. Make sure to hide your porn somewhere else beforehand!
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2K's philosophy would suggest that we would each need our own Satallite subscription, our own TV and our own Electrical feed.
Honestly, everyone should go out and buy the game, install it as many times as possible, then inundate and flood their tech support lines and e-mail support and message boards with questions as to how they can uninstall it so they can install it on another computer. Even contact them and tell them that you can't get the game running and the crack you downloaded hasn't solved the problem.
A few hundred phone calls and e-mails later and they'll be suffering a loss on BioShock.
"Sorry mom, Billy can't play my game because a guy named Bob in Bangladesh said sharing is wrong."
"Okay then, don't share the video game with him, but you still have to share everything else. You get to use the underwear today and he gets to use the toothbrush."
This whole fiasco is an attempt to push software and games licensing into totally new and pretty unreasonable territory. Sounds like SecuRom DRM is more about total control over how you use their content and who is allowed to use it, rather than fair use and protecting the content from piracy. Even the RIAA and MPAA must be scratching their heads and wondering how SecuRom is going to get away with this for much longer.
So what happens if I finish with my BioShock copy and want to sell it or give it to a friend. Most other games I can just uninstall my copy and away the box goes to someone else. Is this even allowed with BioShock, and if not, how do they legally justify this?
Do the SecuRom fellows ever borrow movies from friends, or swap books to read, or are they against people getting to watch movies and read for "free" too?
If you buy it, you can use it fairly. According to 2K and SecuROM, your fair use rights no longer exist.
Where's a cheap and honest lawyer when you need one?