I'm actually starting to get quite annoyed with this trend, though it hasn't been a detriment to me. The issue with requiring a perpetual connection is that it gives the publisher more control over their product; and unfortunately it can get a little ludicrous, because it can (and has) go beyond preventing the pirating of software and cheating.
I can't remember how the whole event ended, but I recall hearing of a person who bought Dragon Age II and hopped on the bandwagon to bash it. Someone then banned/suspended his account (or something along those lines), preventing him from playing the game at all; and potentially any other games on the same account as well. Bought a single-player game, but then prevented from playing it because he debased it on the internet. Sure, it was rather stupid to do that to begin with; but the punishment was flat-out excessive, banning/suspending him from the forums wouldn't of been unreasonable (the whole "Bash-DA2" fiasco was going out of hand anyhow). No matter how you put it, barring someone who bought a single-player game fair-and-square (regardless of their actions) is just going too far.
As I've said, this trend hasn't affected me; I've got a stable (and constant) internet connection and I'm not one to be one of the countless loud morons who hop on whatever bandwagon is passing by to bash any given game. Still, it opens up far too much potential for abuse by the publisher; them exercising their powers isn't technically illegal either, but it's still not something which I approve of.