well, the nice ppl over there at valve assume that you have a working cd/dvd drive, a broadband connection ( of course without traffic limitations, so they can upgrade whatever they want ) and whatnot, otherwise you're f u c k e d. well, nice, isnt it ?
I heard also about the crack which submits serials to valve ... nice idea I have to say, but somehow I dont see the reason why a singleplayer game should be played online