The main problem is the "No end of life plan" issue
If the software/game/whatever has to call a server to verify itself then when the company goes under or stops supporting it then the software/game/whatever becomes useless without a crack of some kind that may or may not be possible for the layman to implement
Companies need an end of life plan for their products with DRM
Thank you for contacting Steam Support. In the unlikely event of the discontinuation of the Steam network, measures are in place to ensure that all users will continue to have access to their Steam games.
It seems like Valve wants us to think they have an EoL plan. With the goodwill they've built over the years, I want to believe them.
I'd say in your case piracy was 1000% justified. You bought it, you should be able to play it.
I think piracy is acceptable if one of these two conditions are met:
The main problem is the "No end of life plan" issue
If the software/game/whatever has to call a server to verify itself then when the company goes under or stops supporting it then the software/game/whatever becomes useless without a crack of some kind that may or may not be possible for the layman to implement
Companies need an end of life plan for their products with DRM
Someone actually emailed Valve about this back in 2013. Here's their response: https://i.imgur.com/4sa1Ln6.jpg
It seems like Valve wants us to think they have an EoL plan. With the goodwill they've built over the years, I want to believe them.