The reason they changed it is simple, it's not only to protect their own games, it's to license the technology to other developers, which they're in talks to do. Essentially, they want to create a service, but in their attempts, they've fallen incredibly short of expectations.
I'm not one for pirating software, though I used to be. I tend to purchase games and software that I find worthy, or I use open source. I was so looking forward to playing my purchased copy of AC2, as I loved the first game so much. Sadly, i've cancelled my order for the time being, paying a fee to do so too.