In justifying his deal with Microsoft in an open letter and explaining that there's market demand for functionality that can only be filled by proprietary widgetry, Linspire CEO Kevin Carmony observed that "some distributions have come out, claiming to be taking the 'moral high ground' by refusing to give in to 'Microsoft threats,' while openly promoting the means of circumventing proprietary software on their web sites, amounting to nothing more than high-brow software piracy. Some are claiming anti-Microsoft sentiment in regards to our recent announcement, but I don't see them licensing or respecting the IP from many others, not just Microsoft. That's not how I define the 'more high ground.'"

He says, "Clearly these distributions must have demand for these proprietary technologies, because several tools exist which are promoted on their sites to provide illegal copies of software, drivers and codecs. They offer disclaimers about the laws in certain countries, yet they must know that many of their customers are using the information from within those countries. This portrays more of an attitude of how to 'get around' the law, rather than trying to live within it."

He claims the moral high ground because he's openly licensing proprietary software he can legally distribute - and getting patent covenants to boot.