Re:So let me get this straight... (Score 1)

How about taking responsibility for your carelessness? What if you had lost the Office CD as well as the case? Would you have felt justified in downloading a pirated copy and using a bogus key to activate it? What if you had lost the expensive fancy $300 key to your expensive car? Would you have any choice but to go to the dealer and buy a new one? No. In that case, there is no pirated copy that you could substitute for your key. But here, in this case, you feel that you have the right to use a pirated copy because of your carelessness You are just rationalizing your carelessness as a justification for using a bootleg copy. I don't agree at all with the currecnt penalties much less the proposed ones, but I don't believe that your justifications would hold much water in court. I sympathise, but it's just a question of responsibilty on your part, and having to pay the price for not being so.