How is Spore licensed?
Spore uses Securom which checks the number of time the installation has taken place via the EA servers (therefore an internet connection is required during installation). In the unpatched version of the game, this limit is set to three installations. Patch 1.01 increases this limit to five. Should you exceed this limit, you will need to contact EA to have the account reset. It has been stated that users will be able to deauthorise an installation thus returning that credit (similar to Apple’s Itunes on Windows and Mac. This has not been implemented yet, but should be available in the near future.