What seems like the obvious solution to me: let EA stop making city sims if they're bad at it, and fire all the ex-Maxis staff who they put on them. And then, let some other company get into the city-sim market if they think there's demand, and then hire all those same staff for their expertise.

Or does EA now hold all the patents on drawing roads and zoning buildings onto an isometric tilemap? :)

If the game is as they say it is and can't be played without the server, due to critical game logic being done there, I don't think they can get away with the pirating excuse as easily this time.