PC GAMERS WHO have had their fill of online activation headaches with Windows will be pretty miffed to hear the latest anti-piracy scheme being dreamed up by top games publishers.

In a post on Bioware's forums, producer Derek French has confirmed that two of the biggest PC titles of the year - Will Wright's Spore and the Xbox 360 conversion of Mass Effect - will require ongoing, rolling 10-day activation over the internet.

"Mass Effect uses SecuROM and requires an online activation for the first time that you play it," French says. "After the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez'd and gets banned). Just so that the 10 day thing doesn't become abrupt, SecuROM tries its first re-check with 5 days remaining in the 10 day window. If it can't contact the server before the 10 days are up, nothing bad happens and the game still runs. After 10 days a re-check is required before the game can run."

Just to re-iterate that point, you will need to re-activate your copy with the publisher every 10 days. Forever.