It’s difficult to prove anything like that. From independent research we know that Intel, and likely AMD too with their counterpart, can remotely control your PC via IME. But they’ve never done that yet or have done so very secretly, because then a lot more people would know and that would be problematic.

Personally I think it’s reasonable to suspect that Microsoft has full capability to severely cripple your system at any given time. Maybe not ‘brick’ as that may be impossible without proprietary hardware inside the machine. However, even a simple Windows installation can mess up your UEFI. Given that, do you think that all those millions of fully secret lines of code cannot render you unable to use your PC, even if just temporarily?

Kind of true, but the EU is not America, so don’t apply the same standards. In the US it’s extremely difficult to find a single politician that is not a completely corrupt criminal. The EU, on the other hand, is filled with a lot of politicians that also prioritize their positions and comfortable lives, but at least generally have somewhat positive intentions.

As for the European Citizens’ Initiatives - they are very serious and usually result in actual legislation. Of course, there’s no guarantee that this specific petition will lead to consumer protections. The only guarantee is that the European Comission will consider and talk about this. Afterwards, they’ll negotiate with the lobbies and sometime later we - citizens of the EU - will get to write public feedback about the Comission’s proposals in a post on their website, that may or may not be taken into consideration.

Overall it’s still a fairly corrupt, far from ideally functioning system, but it’s nowhere near the level of rot that the US is throwing out on full display. Despite the MEPs primarily looking out for their own best interests, we regularly receive more and more laws that benefit regular folk and not corporations. Meanwhile the last time the US has seen any real pro-people change was what, 40 years ago? The EU may be far from perfect, but please do not put it on the same shelf as America. There’s no comparison to be made.

To be more precise: it is actually beneficial for big corporations if you pirate their media, as opposed to you having never been born. The sole act of you ‘consuming’ their media is positive for them, since you’ll almost definitely see their logos (advertising to you), and you may spread the word to people who may pay for it (advertising by you).

As you said, it’s all pretty much propaganda to brainwash us into trying to be ‘good citizens’ (obedient consumers).

Personally I’m not a huge fan of slavery, so I don’t buy from companies who use it. Wanna guess how good this is at solving slavery?