I think the best way to combat piracy is to know you can’t stop it, but to treat the customer like they are valued. My biggest gripe is that if I’m running a mid-range computer, I cannot guarantee that any particular game would work on it — particularly when you tie in junk like “video-card incompatibility”. If I buy something and it doesn’t work, I should be able to return it for a refund. How game’s retailers found themselves exempt from this boggles my mind.

You should really check out Stardock’s “Gamer’s Bill of RIghts” for some interesting notes to that end.