I was lucky enough to have bought and downloaded a game I was happy to see put up on GOG.com, a site that boasted contractually allowed DRM-free purchase and download of a bunch of older but generally superb games. 
 
Last weekend, GOG.com abruptly stopped their services (in the middle of a sale) and put up a confusing, brief statement about the state of affairs there.  Since then, the press that covers independents has been trying to figure things out.  Some of the rumors that resulted from the speculation around the closing were shamlessly cynical, which tells me a lot about certain news venues in the entertainment industry. It seems the truth will be a bit complex, according to a recent update on GOG.com:
 
"Unfortunately we had to close the service due to business and technical reasons."  [1]
 
I'm not into the prediction game, but from what could be gleaned from their Twitter feed and statements made was that the DRM-free model that they had may have actually caused problems. It seems like their low prices, when combined with the contracts they needed to license the games made for a small dollar margin, and there may also be an issue with some of the providers of the games being unhappy with their software being propagated, despite the DRM-free status being pretty much a guarantee that there was going to be leaks, but I doubt that they'll talk about this openly, so it's just a guess.
 
If their Public Relations statements are to be believed, GOG.com may change, but it won't be gone completely. It seems like they may actually disappear for a time, and might come back with a system similar to Steam or Impulse (a company similar in focus to GOG.com but no DRM-free feature).  In the meantime, according to the statement issued today as of this writing:
 
"We guarantee that every user who bought any game on GOG.com will be able to download all their games with bonus materials, DRM-free and as many times as they need starting this Thursday." [1]
 
They go on to say that another, more detailed press release will be issued tomorrow, and that they'll inform users with accounts via their email.
 
EDIT: They admit it was a hoax...  although it was a very imprecise one. They could have made it a bit cheesy, so that people could have felt right doubting what was going on, but that would have required more planning. Just taking the site down, preventing people from downloading products they bought without explanation, was unprofessional.  They didn't lose me as a customer; as I said in the comments below as long as the service is the same, and it seems to be, but I understand if people might stop using the site because of it.  I guess I require stuff a bit more unethical to turn me off--  stuff that doesn't phase buyers for much bigger publishers.
 
It's just that GOG is, in a sense, one of the little guys. They should learn that groups that small should be more like family, and less like...  whatever kind of people like to pull stuff like this.
 
Anyway, reset to normal, etc.

I was lucky enough to have bought and downloaded a game I was happy to see put up on GOG.com, a site that boasted contractually allowed DRM-free purchase and download of a bunch of older but generally superb games. 
 
Last weekend, GOG.com abruptly stopped their services (in the middle of a sale) and put up a confusing, brief statement about the state of affairs there.  Since then, the press that covers independents has been trying to figure things out.  Some of the rumors that resulted from the speculation around the closing were shamlessly cynical, which tells me a lot about certain news venues in the entertainment industry. It seems the truth will be a bit complex, according to a recent update on GOG.com:
 
"Unfortunately we had to close the service due to business and technical reasons."  [1]
 
I'm not into the prediction game, but from what could be gleaned from their Twitter feed and statements made was that the DRM-free model that they had may have actually caused problems. It seems like their low prices, when combined with the contracts they needed to license the games made for a small dollar margin, and there may also be an issue with some of the providers of the games being unhappy with their software being propagated, despite the DRM-free status being pretty much a guarantee that there was going to be leaks, but I doubt that they'll talk about this openly, so it's just a guess.
 
If their Public Relations statements are to be believed, GOG.com may change, but it won't be gone completely. It seems like they may actually disappear for a time, and might come back with a system similar to Steam or Impulse (a company similar in focus to GOG.com but no DRM-free feature).  In the meantime, according to the statement issued today as of this writing:
 
"We guarantee that every user who bought any game on GOG.com will be able to download all their games with bonus materials, DRM-free and as many times as they need starting this Thursday." [1]
 
They go on to say that another, more detailed press release will be issued tomorrow, and that they'll inform users with accounts via their email.
 
EDIT: They admit it was a hoax...  although it was a very imprecise one. They could have made it a bit cheesy, so that people could have felt right doubting what was going on, but that would have required more planning. Just taking the site down, preventing people from downloading products they bought without explanation, was unprofessional.  They didn't lose me as a customer; as I said in the comments below as long as the service is the same, and it seems to be, but I understand if people might stop using the site because of it.  I guess I require stuff a bit more unethical to turn me off--  stuff that doesn't phase buyers for much bigger publishers.
 
It's just that GOG is, in a sense, one of the little guys. They should learn that groups that small should be more like family, and less like...  whatever kind of people like to pull stuff like this.
 
Anyway, reset to normal, etc.

There are already like 4 threads about this. 
 
Edit: My apologies, it was 4am when I posted this and didn't notice it was just a blog.

It's a blog entry, but OK.

Some people say it's a publicity stunt, made to coincide with a financial meeting they're having or something. I'm still under the impression that they actually are in trouble, because they have been in hard times as long as I can remember.  I hope this whole thing blows over and they come back, because I never had the chance to buy more games from them.

Turns out they fooled us, they're just moving out of the Beta phase.  Check their site again. =D

Yeah, sorry to say, but it totally was just a publicity stunt. On the plus side, they seem somewhat sorry for doing so, and have announced Baldur's Gate being available as soon as the site comes back up tomorrow. This, therefore, leads to the conclusion that we can expect the rest of the infinity engine catalog, which I consider to be suitable recompense (because I really haven't played Icewind Dale or Planescape torment yet. Certainly I have... tampered, with them, but I tend to be more likely to seriously play a game if I own it legitimately) 
 
Of course, I have to talk to my bank every time I buy something from them (as the transaction is technically going overseas and that is exactly the kind of stuff banks are supposed to block, so I don't blame them), and I already own BG1, so my general purchasing interest is roughly the same.