Gates? $100 Million Estate a Poor Venue for Piracy Talks

Memo to Bill Gates: I???m not sure that wining and dining an avowed Communist in a $100 million dollar high-tech mansion owned by the world???s richest man makes a strong case for the financial harm caused by software piracy. Here???s how I imagine the discussion Bill Gates had with Chinese President Hu Jintao, who dined at Mr. Gates??? estate on Tuesday evening during a visit to the U.S.

Bill Gates: ???President Hu, software piracy is a real problem.???

Hu Jintao(holding a shrimp cocktail): ???Jesus, would you look at this place????

Gates: ???Did you know that 90 percent of software used in China is pirated????

Hu: ???I could feed 10,000 peasants a day for what you spend on lawn care.???Gates: ???I???m sure we can agree the technology industry will suffer gravely without strong protection of intellectual property.???

Hu: ???I heard this place has 24 bathrooms. What???s that about????

Gates: ???According to a study by the Business Software Alliance and IDC, global PC software sales in 2004 were $59 billion, but over $90 billion worth of software was actually installed. That???s an intolerable discrepancy.???

Hu: ???I guarantee you Vista???s ship date wouldn???t have slipped if I was running the show.???

Gates: ???Piracy costs U.S. companies billions of dollars a year.???Hu: ???Dude, how much more money do you need????