Used Games = Piracy?

[Mannix]

There has been an interesting discussion happening at Penny Arcade (at least on the front page; I'd never cheat on you with another forum, baby) about used games and developers' use of codes to effectively disable features in used games. A few interesting points have been made: that from a developer's perspective used games are essentially the same as piracy as they never see a dime from either one and that when you buy anything used you pay less because there is increased risk of failure or decreased function and why should it be different than games. The counter argument is basically that people don't have a lot of money and need a cheap way to get stuff especially considering the $60 price point for most console games, also that finding a way to lower the price point would help get more people to buy new games more than removing functionality will.

I have to say that I agree that buying used games is essentially the same as piracy as far as the industry goes, but people are paying money to somebody so it isn't "as bad" to the average Capitalist American mind.
I disagree with them purposefully removing content as the increased risk factor comes in the form of disc scratches and other physical points of failure. The devs removing functionality would be like if car makers remotely made it impossible for the car to go faster than 20 miles per hour after the original owner sold the car.
And last, the decreased price point is why I game on PC exclusively and almost always only buy through Steam; the developers are getting my cash but there are always all kinds of crazy sales at some point on just about everything. (I personally think PC gaming is coming into something of a renaissance but that's another thread entirely).

I'm keen to hear what you guys think about this.