Your argument (the purpose of DRM is to delay pirates long enough to earn that crucial opening weekend or weeks revenue) is based on a few assumptions. A big on

Your argument (the purpose of DRM is to delay pirates long enough to earn that crucial opening weekend or weeks revenue) is based on a few assumptions. A big one is that unlicensed downloading of creative works will meaningfully affect opening weekend revenue. I could go along with that argument for movies that have been available for weeks on download sites. But I don't see how DRM would prevent a film from leaking way before its release date. If that happens, I'd venture you have a different problem. For creative works with a longer "main revenue" window that are consumed on a computer (i.e. games), I can go along with this reasoning for top-priced titles. For games that are $15 on steam, dunno. Doesn't seem worth the effort to deprive the creator of some revenue, just to save 15 bucks. But what do I know, I don't make & sell games. E-books seem different yet again - but again, I don't write and sell ebooks. Except for a handful of well-known titles or titles receiving universal praise and prize considerations, I'd guess you'd be lucky to be noticed in the book market. I have no clue whether more popularity will drive sales more than downloads will cut into sales.