I need some clarification. On steam you can also order a DVD from them that has DRM?
No. You order a game on DVD. Then you try to install it and find out it uses Steam as DRM. If you don't use Steam and don't already have an account, you have to create a Steam account and give them personal information. Otherwise you can't play the game.
DRM is Digital Rights Management.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_managementThese days it's usually synonymous with copy "protection" and can be used with games, movies, and software.
With respect to games it refers to various things which can be done "digitally"/"electronically" to control your use of a game -- whether it can be played, whether it can be backed up, whether the game "phones home" etc. DRM can refer to almost any form of control that is done digitally. It's supposedly to ensure copyright is not violated. Of course it has also blocked legally purchased games from playing, though the publisher's tech support will never admit it.
Disc checks on CD's and DVD's are a form of DRM.
Online authentication is a form of DRM.
Forcing the use of a client is a form of DRM.
StarForce v3 was the first really bad (invasive) disc-checking copy "protection." Some versions required typing in a code, some didn't. The real "checking" part was not handled by the code that the user typed in, but by the way the copy "protection" data was burnt into the CD or DVD, and the ability of the CD or DVD drive to read the data. StarForce v3 used filter drivers that could affect the use of a drive or the speed at which a drive could burn (if it was a burner). There were any number of things that could cause it to fail, including a drive that wasn't reading data quite as fast or slow as StarForce expected it to. StarForce v3 was invasive enough that it will longer install on versions of Windows that have heightened security (Vista and later). So any games you bought that had StarForce v3 on them will not work on anything after XP -- unless you can find a NoCD crack to remove the StarForce. Games with StarForce v3 on the disc include Black Mirror (2003), Broken Sword 3 (2003), and Still Life (2005) from Dreamcatcher/TAC in the US and Moment of Silence on DVD (2004) from Digital Jesters in the UK. After Vista came out, manufacturers stopped using StarForce v3 on games because it was incompatible. Of course discs which are "old stock" won't have magically gotten rid of it. But you can't "update" the StarForce on a game that shipped with StarForce v3 and get it to work.
StarForce v5 is nowhere near as invasive as StarForce v3, and works with Vista and later. It is no longer the worst form of disc-based copy "protection." And there are online versions of StarForce that are no worse than any other online authentication copy "protection."
Does this effect downloads?
Does what affect downloads?
StarForce v3 was never used on downloads.
Nor is it used on any game made for Vista or later.
The StarForce company does make a type of online authentication, but it is no worse than any other.