True, I was thinking of software distributed on DVDs or ISOs.
A stolen or misappropriated product key is almost as bad as a virus, though. It will work great... but only at first, until Microsoft notices that 50,000 customers are using it.
I bet on some level they know and don't care. If you're buying a cheapo key off of ebay then chances are you were never going to pay the full price. Meanwhile they're still using the software, learning how it works, and growing the Windows ecosystem further. Vaguely like a loss-leader that gets people in the door.
A stolen or misappropriated product key is almost as bad as a virus, though. It will work great... but only at first, until Microsoft notices that 50,000 customers are using it.