Yeah, but that's the only way to get such hammock-like cupping around the boys. And apparently I don't notice it. I had to check and it turns out all mine have them.
I don't want to get into it too much, but consider this analogy: let's say a person is tied to a chair wired with a bomb. The bomb explodes, and they die. What killed them? Personally, I'd say it was the bomb, not the rope or chair.
It's Microsoft's own activation mechanism, not some backdoor crack. The point is they know full well it exists and are doing nothing to curb it, because they don't want FOSS picking up steam. Microsoft doesn't make their money off consumers. They make their money off enterprises that don't view Linux environments as feasible because all their workers have ever known is Windows.
Microsoft owns GitHub, which hosts mass graves. If they wanted people to stop using Windows and Office for free, they could make that happen by flipping a few switches. Given a choice between "pirating" Microsoft products and using an alternative, Microsoft wants you to use their stuff for free. Anything but give Linux any oxygen.
I dunno, acknowledging the problems seems like a good start