News has started popping up on the intertubenets that the copy protection used in 2K game's latest offering, Bioshock (which is some kind of big deal or something), is only allowing users to register the game twice before shutting them down.

Angry gamers over at the 2k Games forum are voicing their concerns over the seemingly harsh methodology applied for copy protection via SecuROM

Steam users aren't getting much slack either, so going the Steam route is just as useless in the end.

Honestly, I can understand that companies feel the desire to protect their IPs. They've come up with them, nurtured them like children, and want to protect them like normal parents protect their children. However, normal parents don't go out and beat the hell out of anybody who may want to mess with their children and . . . this metaphor is getting too long winded, but you get the point, right?

When it comes to protecting your intellectual property, companies are more than entitled to do so. However, in doing so, you should not be screwing over the people who put food on your table. When you do things like this, people are even more apt to pirate your games.

What this boils down to? Buy the Xbox 360 version, and you don't have to deal with industry bullshit.

Update Brian Crecente's Hair Palace has an update on this particular newsbite from Elizabeth over at 2K Games. She writes:

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hey guys,

first, let me say this. you DO NOT NEED TO USE THE INTERNET EVERY TIME YOU PLAY THIS GAME. it is only the first time.

second, you can uninstall and reinstall this game, and if, by chance, you have 2 computers you want to simultaneously play this game on, you also can do that.

if by some chance you are reinstalling this game without uninstalling it first, a lot, there is a chance you may have to call securom and get a key, or deactivate some older installations.

but if you upgrade your hardware next week, you'll still be able to play the game. if you revamp your system and need to reinstall bioshock, just uninstall it before you go through the overhaul, and then do your reinstall.

calling it "hardware fingerprinting" is a bit alarmist. we do not transmit any of your data to any companies.

really, the only people who will be concerned about any of these security measures are those who are rapidly putting bioshock on many pcs... if you use the game as you normally do, you won't notice this at all.

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So there you have it. They're not ready to throw us in jail quite yet, they're just making sure our tracking collars are securely attached and functioning.