Ten years ago, almost perfect copies of pirated Microsoft software, including their trademark Windows operating system, began popping up all over the globe. US Customs found a shipping container in 2001 in Los Angeles that held at least $100 million worth of knock-off Microsoft software. After this Los Angeles seizure in 2001, Microsoft pushed the investigation and wound up in Taiwan where another $100 million in fake software was found.

Microsoft has estimated that over the whole operation, spanning at least a decade and into no less than 22 countries, they have seized more than $900 million in pirated software. There were 35 convictions in the US and many more in countries including Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, Paraguay, Italy, Canada, Germany, Poland, and Great Britain to name a few.

For any of you entrepreneurs in the software business, you certainly know how much of a problem piracy can be. Though there are few of us online that haven’t at some point or another copied a picture, downloaded mp3s without paying royalties, and other blood-thirsty offenses, piracy certainly is a huge problem when you’re creating something at a highly inflated price like Microsoft. I’m not advocating software piracy by any means, but I do advocate corporate and personal responsibility. How much money is enough?

As somewhat of a geek myself, I’ve built several computers from scratch and once thought that a business building computers would be great for me. The only problem is that I can build a computer that will run well, be fast enough to get online with a high speed connection, store plenty of data, and do just about anything the customer wants for near $150 my cost of parts. Buying an individual licensed copy of Windows costs about $125 (for an older version) and the office pack that includes Word, Excel, and other important programs people assume come with the computer costs another $125. There’s no way to compete with Dell’s computers at $400 completely built, running, and with all the software when my cost alone would be at least $400 for just the parts and software. Add in labor, shipping, and profit, and any small business would be out of business.

Microsoft should come off the prices. I mean, we all know that Bill Gates is sickeningly rich. Where’s the limit? Everyone wants caps on medical malpractice lawsuits because it’s driving the cost of malpractice insurance through the roof and not only can put a private practice out of business, but obviously raises the cost of health care (insured and uninsured) significantly. People are quick to see the relation there, but slow to pick up on the fact the Microsoft keeps raking in the money, crushing small (and sometimes large) businesses that pose any threat to their continued reign over the personal computer world.