Nier: Automata mod makes pirates angry

As reported by VG247, a modder by the name of Kaldaien has made a mod for Nier: Automata that, among other things, checks if a person is playing a legitimate copy of the game, as opposed to a pirated one, making the game unplayable if they're not. This mod is free and has no ill-effects for anyone who paid for their copy of the game - quite the opposite, actually, as it increases resolution and frame-rate as well as including a number of other improvements.

This mod has caused outrage among pirates, and Kaldaien has now been banned from Nier: Automata's Steam forums with the download link for the mod being removed. The creator has made the mod's source code publicly available, however, so pirates have been altering it to better suit their own needs.

Does the piracy feature on this mod sound like a good idea?