You'll have to wait until September - it's currently in beta- but the site's teaser says it'll sell games for $5.99 and $9.99, and promises total DRM freedom:

You won't find any intrusive copy protection in our games; we hate draconian DRM schemes just as much as you do, so at GOG.com you don't just buy the game, you actually own it. Once you download a game, you can install it on any PC and even re-download it whenever you want, as many times as you need, and you can play it without an internet connection.

Whoa, really? Awesome.

Details after the jump.

Time Travel Invented. GOG.com Brings Good Old Games to the Present

CD Projekt Announces DRM-Free Online Store for Classic PC Games

Warsaw, Poland – July 10, 2008. CD Projekt, best known in the Western world for its award-winning PC RPG, The Witcher, is proud to unveil its invention of time travel. The company sent several representatives to the past and they’ve returned with some amazing findings. Quick to capitalize on the incredible treasures of history, the company is pleased to reveal its newest project, GOG.com. The site, whose name is an acronym for Good Old Games, is a new games-on-demand platform that allows old fogies (and young fogies) to buy some of the best PC games of all time – many of which just can't be found in stores anymore – and play them on modern hardware, completely free of intrusive DRM. GOG.com is poised to become the center of the classic-games universe with a huge community section including forums, user reviews and ratings, as well as insightful commentary and editorials from some of the industry’s most beloved writers. A closed public beta of the site is scheduled for launch on August 1st, and excited old-school gamers can sign up for more info and a chance to enter the beta by visiting GOG.com.

The site makes it tremendously easy for gamers to buy, download and install some of their all-time favorite PC games. The games will be sold for $5.99 or $9.99, are guaranteed to work on Windows Vista and Windows XP systems and are available to download as many times as needed. This is very nice, yes? The DRM-free games, low prices, the site’s ease-of-use and the community are some of the main features that make Good Old Games something more than just another digital distribution outlet.

GOG.com has already lined up agreements with such publishers as Interplay and Codemasters to make their games available on the site. Among the titles those companies are bringing to the site are in-demand classics like Fallout, Freespace 2, Operation Flashpoint: Game of the Year Edition and TOCA Race Driver 3. Negotiations are in progress with several other publishers, with the ultimate goal of GOG.com offering a comprehensive collection of classic PC games from the 80s, 90s and 2000s.

“Our main goal is to create a user-friendly site with the best classic PC games for a price that might be considered impossible to achieve,” said Adam Oldakowski, Managing Director of GOG.com. “The people behind GOG.com are gamers and we all know how difficult it is to find a lot of classic games. So we’ve started building a great games catalogue, gotten rid of the copy protection that gamers hate so much, optimized the games to work on modern operating systems, and made them cheap enough that piracy seems like a rip-off. It’s so easy to buy, download and install a game and then get deeply involved in the community; we’re very confident that gamers will absolutely love the site.”

Okay, so that part about inventing time travel was a lie. Sorry.

Any publishers interested in bringing their titles to GOG.com are encouraged to contact contact@gog.com.

Speaking of handy, Microsoft's Larry Hryb has a helpful how-to video of the DRM transfer process on his blog, which we would consider required viewing. Also required, reading the Xbox 360 Content License Restoration FAQ, which should answer most of your questions about the process. Of potential concern is that the tool can be used just once every twelve months and that movie rentals are not transferable.

The whole thing sounds easy enough, but let us know if you have any issues.

Content License Transfer Tool (aka the DRM Tool) now available [Microsoft]

Activation limits removed on BioShock for the PC [2K]

The announcement comes on the heels of news that Mass Effect will also be ditching the ten day re-authentication.

We wanted to let you know that we've been hearing your concerns about the online authentication mentioned earlier this week. I didn't want to head into the weekend without getting back to you with some information about how Spore is planning on using this new system.

A few things we wanted you to know:

— We authenticate your game online when you install and launch it the first time.
— We'll re-authenticate when a player uses online features, downloads new content or a patch for their game.
— The new system means you don't have to play with the disc in your computer. And if you are like me, always losing discs, this will be a huge benefit.
— You'll still be able to install and play on multiple computers.
— You can play offline.

We do hope that players will play online - sharing creatures, buildings and vehicles with other players is something that is unique to Spore and one of the coolest features of the game. Every day, when I play the Creature Stage, I get to see wacky and awesome new creatures from my Buddies on the team coming over the hill at me and I can't wait to see what happens when our creative, passionate community starts sharing their creations.

Sounds like Electronic Arts got the message, here's hoping that other publishers do too.

The developer said the decision came after listening "very closely" to its fans and that the new system will also allow gamers to play the game without the DVD in the drive.

The system will allow gamers to authenticate their game on just three computers, but EA does have the ability to give additional authorizations if they are warranted.

Hit up the jump for the official FAQ and to let us know what you think about this change of heart.

Q: What is the difference between the old PC disc authentication solution and the new online model?

A: Two things have changed:

• First, authentication of discs has now gone from the physical format to the online format, freeing the need for consumers to have a disc in the drive at all times.

• Second, with online authentication consumers now connect to the Internet the first time the game is launched and are required only to reconnect if they are downloading new game content.

Q: Will EA or BioWare take any personal information from my computer during an authentication?

A: Absolutely not. We do not take any personal information from your computer. The system simply verifies that a valid CD key has been provided and assigns that activation to that PC.

Q: What happens when I’ve reached the maximum # of computers for my game and I need more, say due to theft of computer, computer crashes, etc?

A: EA customer service is on hand to supply any additional authorizations that are warranted. This will be done on a case-by-case basis by contacting customer support.

Q: Why are BioWare and EA implementing this new authentication process?

A: This serves to protect our software from piracy. It has the added benefit of allowing consumers to activate the game on multiple machines without needing the DVD in the drive when playing the game.

Q: Did BioWare and EA change their mind on requiring that the game be re-authorized every 10 days?

A: BioWare has always listened very closely to its fans and we made this decision to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to them. To all the fans including our many friends in the armed services and internationally who expressed concerns that they would not be able re-authenticate as often as required, EA and BioWare want you to know that your feedback is important to us.

Q: If the game isn’t going to require an authentication every 10 days, will it ever require re-authentication?

A: Only if the player chooses to download new game content.

I recently had a chance to talk with John Koller, the senior marketing manager for the Playstation Portable for a story I was working on for the Rocky Mountain News. The story ran online today. It mostly looks at the Playstation Portable's identity crisis: Is it a portable gamer or is it a multimedia player. There are plenty of other juicy tidbits packed into the story as well.

Hit the jump for a few of them:

The PSP has a 120-game library and another 100 coming by the end of the year.
The PSP will definitely get an iTunes-like service that will support music and video downloads, but right now Sony is still working on the DRM.
The GPS add-on will be used for both mapping and gameplay.
The camera add-on will include a built-in microphone and be able to take still pictures and video.
Future iterations of the PSP are likely, but Sony is betting on the device having a 10-year lifespan.
Sony believes Microsoft's Zune will eventually have game play support and that worries the company.

I'm left with the impression that Sony doesn't play nicely with Sony when it comes to.. well, just about everything, but most certainly when it comes to digital video and music. Hit the full story for all of the context and lovely quotes.

Sony Fights to Define the PSP [Rocky Mountain News]

I would like to clarify that this is false speculation and that PlayStation 3 software will not be copy protected to a single machine but will be playable on any PlayStation 3 console.

Kong then threw a barrel at the nearest journalist and grunted.

The rumor sparked outrage, but very little surprise. After all, Sony's been trying to maintain an umbilical between itself and its released media for quite a while now. The flames still burn over the wreckage of the DRM debacle. Eliza Gauger

Sony's clampdown on second-hand games: UPDATED [Guardian Unlimited]

Chris' complaint? From the class action complaint itself, filed on March 26, 2004:

Starforce DRM can compromise Windows operating systems' security. Any virtus or trojan can control a computer by and through the Stareforce DRM installeed on the computer, despite the security measures taken in newer versions of Windows.

Users receive no notice that removing Starforce DRM is necessary to prevent possible security compromises on their computer systems. Worse, removal of a Starforce Title does not always remove Starforce DRM software.

We're glad to see someone actually try to press this in the court system, although we're disappointed that this lawsuit is against Ubisoft and not Starforce themselves. However, if successful, this will demonstrate to other game companies what a legal liability employing Starforce DRM in their software can be. Let's hope this turns out for the best.

Starforce Class Action Lawsuit (Thanks, Ethan!)

Well, our jaded brethren over at The Consumerist — whom earlier today dissed and dismissed Kotaku, so maybe you guys better go on over there and give editor Ben Popken a piece of your mind. Kotakuites Assemble! — have the scoop on the latest customer service fiasco by the wonderful morons working at Starforce.

Although we're not smart enough to understand what the technical problem was that prompted this amazing reply from a Starforce rep — something to do with network droppers or something — you don't really have to be to get a chuckle out of it. After accusing the poster of being paid to post Starforce complaints on their forums, a Starforce rep wrote:

You're lying!

IF you publish an appology on our forums for being a liar, we may continue converstaiton.

Ha ha ha. Wacky Starforce!

Starforce Tells Customer: Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire [Consumerist] (Thanks, Ben!)

Do svidaniya, Starforce!

Now, Futuremark has uncovered a very dangerous anti-piracy system Starforce is now using. This copy protection system installs a driver that runs at the highest level of access on the system, which gives it low level access to the PCs hardware and any drivers and processes. This driver runs regardless of whether the game runs; keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity such as attempting to copy a protected disc. If something suspicious is detected, it forces the PC to make an immediate reboot, regardless of any other applications running and whether or not the user has any unsaved work.

Gee, why would anyone not want to purchase a product that relied upon Starforce for its DRM? According to a Starforce PR spokesman, it is because they just must be members of the Russian mafia:

StarForce Technologies, for its part, often takes extreme offense to negative comments... ...When questioned, Zhidkov [SF's PR manager] told us, "The issue on StarForce is obviously sponsored by our competitors or organized crime groups that run CD/DVD piracy [operations]. We are now in close coopreration with [US and Russian officials] investigating the matter and trying to find out who stands behind the boycott campaign.

That quote was obtained from the latest issue of Computer Gaming World.

Starforce DRM Exposed And It's Not Pretty [Gadget Life]

Starforce is sleazy, no doubt. Their first transgression was programming and marketing a highly-invasive form of copy protection to begin with. Then they began threatening their critics with frivolous lawsuits. And as icing on the cake, they decided to post torrent links to Galactic Civilization 2 on their website in response to Stardock's criticism of copy-protection in general. It's enough to make a gamer want to break a Starforce-infected cd in half and jab the shards through the vitreous humor of Starforce CEO's eyeballs.

Well, Starforce is still sleazy, but we have to give them props: they have apologized to Stardock for the entire "Everyone warez this game!" fiasco. But it's too little, too late — what else can you say when an anti-warez company squanders its credibility by openly endorsing warez?

Starforce apologizes to Stardock for torrent link [GalCiv2 Forums]

That said, it's an intriguing look at the problems facing both customers and game makers. While customers grow increasingly frustrated with their systems being compromised by draconian copy protection schemes, game makers have a definite need to protect their software from piracy. What's becoming more and more apparent to game makers, though, is how Starforce-style copy protection is not the answer to their question, and that they can garner more goodwill by less intrusive copy protection systems... or no copy protection at all. ArsTechnica quotes Greg Vederman, the editor of PC Gamer, who believes the way forward is a greater reliance on online delivery models like Steam.

Kotakuites, what do you think the way forward for copy protection is? Let us know in the comments.

Do copy protection firms encourage piracy? [Ars Technica]