IMHO "locking software to my hardware and requiring to contact the software vendor for product activation" is a serious "DRM issue".
Given the number of people who've used pirated copies of Office over the years... myself included, in versions prior to 2003 (hey, I was a teenager)... even I can't blame Microsoft for wanting the activation feature. And I'm not their biggest fan.
Besides, I must've activated (and re-activated) Office 2003 over 15 times during all the years I used it prior to removing it a couple week ago after getting 2007. I guess if you take issue with waiting all of 10 seconds for it do that over the net, then Office 2007 isn't for you.
I won't buy software which requires activation, if I either can live without it or there is an alternative available. Very simple rule. Highly recommended.
I take it you're using Windows 2000, then? Anyway, I think at this point we have to face the fact that product activation is a fact of life. For people who've legitimately purchased said product, it's a minor inconvenience every once in a while, if you buy a new system and the thing won't re-activate automatically (sometimes even that won't stop it from reactivating). So you call the number the program gives you, it takes maybe 5-10 minutes, and you're up and running again. Big deal.
I didn't like activation either myself, initially. However, then I realized just how much pirated crap I had on my computers during the 90s, and I realized why they did it. At this point, I don't really like the idea of having pirated software, anyway. I have the money for it, why shouldn't I actually contribute to the stuff I'm using on a daily basis? Fortunately, I managed to avoid major costs buy purchasing the more expensive software packages that I use (Office 2007 Enterprise, Adobe CS3 Master Collection, Windows Vista Ultimate) through my school for significant discounts. And all three can be upgraded through retail channels upon the release of new versions. Adobe was the most discounted; teh initial cost for me was a a couple hundred less than the retail upgrade to the next version will cost when it's release; at least I avoided the initial $2500 cost for the Master Collection suite.