Downloadable retail needed?

[Archonsod]

PDF said:
You're citing "unfair", abusively restrictive d/l systems that don't allow you to make a CD yourself or limit your freedom to use the game in a way or another.

I mentioned Star Dock

Even so, a file I can make a CD from is fair enough, assuming I have a CD burner. The problem is not so much the download itself, as the protection methods in the Download - you can make a CD copy of HL2, but your still dependent on Steam being up to actually activate it.
There's also the whole ownership thing. I'd rather have a nice CD case, with a manual I can flick through on the train and whatever other goodies are shoved in there than a bunch of binary any day.

Theft is the act of taking something from someone unlawfully. When I take something from someone, he loses it. That's not the case with unathorised copying.

How about the developer who doesn't get paid because the game isn't selling? Or his kids & wife who lose their home because he lost his job? Like it or not, the second you pirate the game, your making yourself implicit in those kind of effects.