Let's see, whom does drm/cd protection hinder?
Joe 6packs who wouldn't know a cd from a dvd and wouldn't even remotely know where to find a no-cd .exe or virtual cd-image if his life depended on it.
or
The average cracker/pirate/whatever that has a no-cd or image ready to go often weeks before the game even hits the stands.
My bet's on the first, what's yours?
As far as I'm concerned anyone thinking the second has a lot in common with an ostrich wing deep with it's head in the sand.
Let's say you are an executive for a game company or publisher. You have two options, either enforce more strict ways to counter piracy, even though a lot of people will still manage to warez it, or leave it with minimall or no copy protection and try to explain to the board why your game is being pirated. At least with the first you have your ass covered.
I didn't say I am in favour of copy protection, it annoys me as well. But, it is the only way to at least slow down jackasses that all/mostly do is play illegal copies of the games. Plus it combats pirating from clueless people.
So, yes, copy protection is there because of piracy, either you like it or not.