Microsoft and eBay sally forth against prominent file sharers in Germany

I've had it up to here with this shit. Why should I care about Microsoft's financial well-being?

"We've been working with eBay since 2002 to track down and prosecute groups and individuals organised as commercial entities that have tried to sell illegal copies of our software over the internet," said Thomas Baumgärtner, a spokesman for Microsoft. "Now we've decided to intensify this cooperation to include private individuals who attempt to sell illegal copies of our software."

Well, if this miracle is possible -- tracking and prosecuting anonymous criminals operating from dummy e-mail addresses, trying to scam both consumer and company out of money -- what about addressing the disturbing amount of identity theft happening on eBay, which is the exact same crime? Is that not as compelling, seeing numerous eBay users swindled out of millions of private income by real, professional criminals, rather than a huge music multinational being swindled out of €10 worth of songs by a 14-year old girl? It's identity theft, it's fraud -- aren't those crimes a little bolder than the specious arguments driving prosecution of file sharing? If we care so much about protecting corporate assets, if this has become such a virtue of the new millenium, why can't we protect individual assets as staunchly?

See, me, I just don't care about the megacorps. Most of my favorite musicians and films have a modest showing, and they don't seem to be crying poor at the automatic effect of the internet, which is file sharing. Their fan base seems dedicated enough to continue buying their merch at a respectable rate. Also, they seem to be offering more free singles and previews to stauch the natural flow of curiosity. In short, they seem to be showing some adaptability. Meanwhile, Microsoft is waging war against a faceless sorta-enemy in the name of liberty and profit -- I won't trouble you with the metaphor.

Now that we got more Germans online than ever (now, let's see some proof, in blog and phenomenon format) and those Germans claiming a significant piece of the P2P pie, it's very important to see where the average citizen stands on the issue. Time will blur the line, perhaps, but the laws are being made now. Let's stick up for the little guy, i.e. you, on this one. So Herr Gates' filet mignon is 225 grams instead of 250 for this evening's four-course meal. It's a better scenario than you going to prison for two years because your daughter loves Robbie Williams so bad.