Oh Microsoft: Can't thou stop piracy?

Piracy - the bane of Microsoft and the savior for those too cheap to pay for software.

Apparently Vista Service Pack 1 is now available on torrents, only days after it was released to OEMs. Surprise, surprise. Though I don't think SP1 requires a software key, it's as close to piracy as you can get.

Microsoft is constantly developing new strategies to prevent this illegal copying from happening. Yet, they are always one step behind those who can crack such schemes.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, it's own Windows Genuine Advantage cannot detect a valid copy of Microsoft. A Ubuntu user found that while running IE4Linux he could pass validation on the Microsoft web site.

Piracy is a big deal. However, Microsoft is not helping themselves. Charging outrageous amounts for software is bound to cause the problems that it has caused. Until prices drop, piracy will live on.