Halflife 2 - Internet activation and after....?

I read something in german internet news that it is possible to reactivate Half-Life 2 after playing, but it costs 10 Euro at STEAM. Selling the game makes than no problem. In my opinion it´s to expensive and it seems to me that the game is more lended than bought from Steam. But isn´t there a offline-activation-patch from E.p...o in the news?

Greetz ThePrince