Oh no! Our profits!

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Though the RIAA would like you to believe it, it seems that P2P doesn't actually affect music sales at all. That's kind of embarassing for the RIAA who no longer has any justification for their music property crusade.

Of course, I always said that most people who use P2P to get music wouldn't have bought the CDs in the first place. Therefore, the number of people who download music doesn't necessarily equal the number of CDs that would have been sold.

Oh no! They're stealing our windows!

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Slashdot pointed to this article about a Microsoft press release stating that 22% of Windows Installations are pirated. Their basis for this conclusion? Failure rate of the Windows Genuine Advantage tool.

Self-absorbed boobs. I've never used any pirated software, but I have been greatly tempted to get a hacked version of the software I DO own, just so I didn't have to deal with their invasive and unnecessary activation scheme. There are so many times it's failed on me and I've had to call in to beg for them to let me use my OWN SOFTWARE, that I came very close to getting hacked copies…. Oh yes… very close.

Of course, you can't now because they force you to install an anti-piracy tool before letting you install any kind of security updates. And because Windows is rife with flaws and insecurity, not getting updates is like running through the streets late at night with a scrap of paper in your hand shouting, "I won, I won, Powerball millions woooooo!"

Microsoft needs to stop harassing every user for the sake of a few. They present it as if they're losing 20% revenue when that 20% is made up of pirates who won't buy the software ever. If you succeed in making Windows such a screwed up system that even the pirates won't touch it, chances are, neither will the rest of your market.

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Reuters reports that the recent Microsoft Zune player (the competition portable MP3 player to the iPod) has a built in royalty fee that goes straight to Universal (one of the worlds largest music companies).

Slashdot's coverage quotes Universal Music's Doug Morris as saying the following:

These devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it. So it's time to get paid for it.

Yeesh.