Fresh off the announcement that BioWare's Mass Effect for the PC won't use SecuROM's 10-day online re-authentication feature, a similar announcement was given out by Will Wright's Spore team.

Like Mass Effect, the much-awaited simulation game will not use SecuROM's process. Instead, a more convenient modification will be employed to please gamers and defend the IP from pirates.

Here are some excerpts of the Spore team's response to the concerns about their announcement:

• 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.
  

There you have it. The Spore team then encourages everyone to go online and play the game with other people so they can share creatures and vehicles to fully experience the title's essence. No need to tell us that, because that's one of the first things we'll be doing when it finally arrives.