That was an interesting article, and I agree with the content of it. There was a comment at the end that was most interesting, and one that I 100% fully agree with.
"Of course the fact I don't object to paying for legal copies of software and/or content (rather than convince myself I have every right to steal it) probably helps."
This type of attitude goes a long way in fighting malware that ships with cracked versions of Windows and other paid software (high dollar apps such as Adobe ones). Who knows what these cracked downloads contains? Rouge software to steal your identity & important info (login username/passwords & account numbers/info)?
I don't need this type of software, don't want it around me, and I refuse to give assistance to anyone who knowingly runs it, if I know for certain that the user is intending on cheating the system. If I were to know someone who has a cracked version of Windows, that didn't know it was as such (like the shade tree PC shop sometimes, but not always, installs), I would inform the user to take appropriate action.
Fortunately, with Windows 7, I don't personally know of anyone who has been victims of this sort of thing, but I knew of a few that was running earlier versions of Windows. A few, I installed a clean, legal version on, where the user either got hold of a counterfeit version (unknowingly), or the repair shop deal that I spoke of above. This was a repair shop that opened & closed in the same month, so the customer (the lady I used to rent from) was left hanging.
Shortly after Christmas of 2009, when Win 7 was released, my little side money doing mostly XP installs dropped faster than Black Monday in 1987. Many users bought new computers with 7 preinstalled (or received them as Christmas gifts), so my side money was gone, for the most part. A couple of users needed 7 reinstalled, but they weren't aware of the recovery partition (or burning the discs, either), so I helped them for free. Instead of me doing it, I walked them through it. That's what the partition is there for, to make your OS "like new" again, w/o the expense of a repair shop bill.
7 has been a great, trouble free OS for me so far, and it's my hope that it'll remain that way for years to come.
Cat