[Suicide Junkie]

We aren't talking about the product, but the distribution/installation/registration.

SE4 is perfect in that regard. Keep your CD safe, along with a copy of the patches.
Aaron dosen't try to screw you, and dosen't try to chip away at your rights.

If the US were to suddenly sink under the sea, then once the tidal waves and floods settled down and power was restored in your country, you would be able to buy a new, dry computer.
You would then be back to stomping the EEE with your baseships as soon as you can boot up your new PC.

Half Life 2 becomes completely unusable after far less.
The company could go bankrupt. Bam Game Gone.
An explosion or fire could destroy the servers. Game down.
Lose internet access? Game down.
The company could decide to start charging money for each play. Game held hostage. You do have a choice to pay the ransom in order to keep playing in this case.
Large scale disaster in the US? Game totally gone.