Starforce is horrible. I'm pretty sure that I lost a cd-burner to it, and have stayed clear since.

In my case it actually prompted me to use pirated software, namely Space Rangers 2 (which uses starforce.) Finnish gaming press gave high ratings for the game and it sounded like my cup of tea, so I decided to get it. After buying the game and noticing it uses Starforce, I immediately removed it and made a friend get me a pirate copy.

Stardock's stance is admirable, I bought three copies of Galciv 2 (two of which I donated to friends) just to make sure they get supported.