Ballmer says ‘iPod users are thieves’ statement ‘was bad’

During a keynote speech at the company’s TechNet/MSDN Briefings here Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer joked about recent remarks in which he branded iPod users as thieves.

“Ballmer earlier in the week had ruffled some feathers when he implied that iPod users might be thieves. Speaking in London, Ballmer said, ‘We’ve had DRM (digital rights management) in Windows for years. The most common format of music on an iPod is stolen,'” Lars Pasveer reports for CNET News. “He did not repeat that phrasing on Tuesday, instead saying, ‘I don’t know what I said exactly, but it was bad.'”

Pasveer reports, “When asked which MP3 player his son used, he answered jokingly, ‘My son doesn’t have an MP3 player. He has a Windows Media player.’ Everyone in his household knows that the protection of intellectual copyrights is important, he said. ‘It’s what puts food on the table.'”

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: While Ballmer may have several hundred million dollars more than us, those of us who have kids have kids living a richer digital life, happily surrounded by Macs and iPods. It’s interesting that one can have all the money in world and still be stuck with Windows and saddled with a Dell DJ. Whatever it takes to put food on the table, right?

47 Comments

  1. SOLARFLARE–

    MS didnt say that.. Ballmer said that most music on iPods is stolen..

    big woop. most music on ANY music player is stolen.. hello?! you think ballmer’s kid doesnt use p2p?

    MP3 is a format that you have to pay to codec… and the guy who owns the rights is very rich.

    As for Ballmer’s dining room arrangement.. Windows puts food on that table.. Office puts food on that table..

    not the freakin WM division..

  2. If we want to talk about bullshit illegal activities, I think Gates’ goes way back – speeding in his cars – which is a lot more dangerous than stealing a few songs from music monopolies.

    Message to Ballmer – get bent.

  3. Balmer’s son must be really bored – a Windows Media Player? The screen’s so small it could ruin your eyesight. It takes so long to convert a movie, you might as well just buy a portable DVD player.

  4. Apple should sue Ballmer for libel!

    Why Apple? It’s users he’s calling thieves and many of them are his customers. Maybe he didn’t notice, but iPod works with Windows too these days.

  5. Let’s see… Mac’s are only 5% of the computer population, yet MOST of the stolen music around the world isn’t from the other 95%. R-i-i-i-i-i-g-h-t. Ballmer is the biggest lying pile-o-crap I’ve ever seen. He will say ANYTHING to support Microsuck. What a tool.

  6. Mr. Ballmer: “don’t know what I said exactly, but it was bad.” What a lame and pathetic attempt at damage control. After that outrageous remark,
    Mr. Ballmer may end up doing doing a plate spinning act in Vegas inseat of working for MS.

    JLM ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />

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