Half-Life and Steam's DRM Journey: It Started with a Nephew's CD Burner

In 1998, Valve co-founder Monica Harrington's nephew used money intended for school supplies to buy a CD burner, then copied and shared games, prompting her to realize the threat of game piracy enabled by this technology. This led Valve to implement a simple CD key verification system in Half-Life. While initially met with complaints, it effectively combated piracy and laid the groundwork for the eventual rise of Steam as a dominant DRM platform.