You are absolutely right, as a single player, you should never be forced to use any cheat control software. That makes absolutely no sense. In a singleplayer game, even assuming a working internet connection or requiring an authentication mechanism outside of my control is a reason to not buy the game. I'm playing games who's publishers have long gone the way of the dodo. The still run, they are still fun, even if only in 256 colors. If a game today cannot deliver this, I won't buy it.
It's been a few years since I played the last online FPS (CS/Battlefield '42), in my time, it was the server admins decision if he enforced Punkbuster. If you didn't like PB, you could also join a server without it. You were the only one not cheating, but hey, if someone thinks it's fun... since PB came out, I only played on PB enabled servers. And it's been a lot better without the jerks. From my point of view, multiplayer gaming with one party cheating is not worth my time. I'd rather not play, than play a cheater. Because it really only needs a single cheater to ruin the game for 63 other people.
