Storing the HD Serial Code is fine for the first install, but it still adds a level of annoyance to the user if the hard disk fails and they have to buy a new one.. Personally, I'd be quite annoyed by that. It'd probably put me off buying further games from the company.. unless it was clearly stated in the EULA.

Hard drives fail. That is a sad fact of our world. They have moving parts and all moving parts break eventually. I've personally suffered 3 of the buggers fail on me.. without warning (mostly) and I've lost a lot of data (due to my poor backup regime).

So I buy a new hard disk re-install windows and all the other apps.. which takes a bloody long time.. then go to install the game again, to relax and wind down after a difficult day.. it's 10pm, I've got a mug of coco and I just want a quick game before I hit the sack.. then I find the game won't install because it thinks I'm a pirate and I have to contact the Tech Support team to re-register.. only they've all gone home because it's 10pm and no-one's answering emails.

OK, It's an extreme, hypothetical scenario, but you can see the point.. the honest user is inconvenienced to the point where they cannot use a product that they've legally purchased in order to prevent a minority of people from illegally obtaining a copy.

The concept of fair use could be built into the system however. like the HD Serial Code expires after 3 months so subsequent installs can register the new code after the crash with out a problem, if this period has expired.

This way, it makes the act of piracy pretty much useless as they can only install a new copy of the game on a new machine with the same logon details every 3 months.. now the pirate is inconvenienced and the average user is good to install the game if their hard disk fails after that time.