Video game pirates and torrent freaks should take note. Both Bioware and  Electronic Arts will be releasing two of the biggest PC game titles of the year  — Mass Effect and Spore — with one of the tightest, strictest anti-piracy measures yet. The two titles will require a validation every ten days.

The new copy protection system is a new kind of SecuROM technology that has been programmed to check a copy of the game every ten days. The check begins after the fifth day of installation. The check validates the game and also makes sure that the CD key has not been distributed to the public. Users will be asked to validate the game upon installation and from then on it begins to contact the company website to make sure the validation key is active and valid. If the PC is not able to access the internet for more than ten days, a ten-day period is still given. If, after this grace period, the PC is still unable to access the internet, the whole game will stop functioning and will require full reactivation before it boots up properly.

The new copy protection measure really does sound quite formidable. It will be interesting to find out if the crackers will find a way to circumvent this new system.