: Were ANYBODY to do as was suggested, openly admitting to wire-tapping our
: phones, almost EVERYBODY would be up in arms about it.

Ok, if Samsung were to say that their next model would come with inherent surveillance of all phone calls and text messaging (which is still nothing like a simple online check-in once a day to verify purchases) - AND Samsung were to continue to support past phone models that did not do that, of course there would be anger over it; but they're not screwing customers over -- That would be if they stopped supporting all past models and forced any existing customer to be surveilled. As it would be, people would have the choice to not upgrade, to stick with existing models, or switch to a competitor not doing the same as them.
And again, wiretapping != online check-in. Heck, more directly, Apple does already do thaqt purchase verification, albeit without a periodic check-in, but you can't use the app store at all without verifying your account. No uproar about that. (only jailbreaking, legal and illegal; and who knows yet if someone will find a way around the check-in process, legally or illegally)

: Simply stating that the people doing it are ass-holes and we should use
: out-dated technology to avoid dealing with them, is a short sighted and
: ultimately ineffectual solution to the problem.

It's only a problem to MS if they want to gain customers for the new product who don't have internet once a day. If that's not their target market, it's not a problem for them, and will never be, unless sentiment spreads to their target market and they experience loss in the area they want gain.
It's only a problem for people who want the product but can't have it - either by unavoidable circumstance or by principle (by choice).

: A problem that apparently
: will become more and more prevalent as America (and truthfully the world
: at large) moves towards an ubiquitous and universal Web 2.0. Something
: that is always available, always connected, and pervades every aspect of
: our lives, similar to what exists in some of our favorite sci-fi worlds.

I completely agree. I don't really want to see that future. I want to see that as an option, but I don't want to see everything requiring online. I'm not a fan of the "cloud" in general. I want to have my stuff, have access to my stuff, own my stuff. I don't mind using the cloud necessarily, but to exclusively put everything into the cloud? PLZGODNO.

So... does having the digital game on the local machine, but not being able to use it without checking into the 'cloud' count as that? I dunno. Am I part of the target market? Probably, as at this point I'm always online anyway and at least having the game downloaded and/or copied to my local machine assuages any 'ownership' concerns, apart from the checkin (which is a non-issue at this point as per point #1). At worst, at some time in the future when check-in is retired, I can't say whether or not there will be a solution to the 'ownership' issue; whether they'll then allow complete offline access where possible (ie not online persistent worlds) or offer a refund, or have created an alternate method/platform for continuing to play the game (which I 'own') elsewhere.

So for me, the 1/24hr check-in, for the foreseeable future, is a non-issue. As long as my purchase of the game remains true in perpetuity and I always have access to the game (preferably within my own trusted possession).

The only concerns really that I'd love to hear directly addressed are regarding unavoidable (though rare) 24 hour power outages, and what actually happens without a check-in (is the system locked? or is it just the game you want to play?).