Dear Future Gamer

I know that a lot has been said recently about the subject of piracy, but I'd like to tell you of a recent experience with regard to the game Half-Life. At the time of installation we chose not to register our game due to the fact that we weren't online and, having no modem, we weren't connected to the Internet. Recently we purchased a modem and having downloaded the Team Fortress Classic patch, we were hoping to enjoy some multiplayer gaming. This worked the first time but almost every time since we receive a message which states that our CD key is currently in use and that we should try again later.

I understand that many companies require the CD to be in the drive to play their games (and that Sierra like to bully us further with the obligatory installation of their 'utilities') but what of protection against someone stealing our CD-key if that's what happened? They seem to think that we gave someone our number or that we've either duplicated or allowed someone to duplicate our CD, none of which is the case.

Has someone stolen our CD-key? If so, how? Have you heard of this before?

Anon

FG: No, we haven't heard of it before and don't really know what to suggest beyond re-installing the game. Maybe one of our more technical readers can suggest a remedy here?