Window XP Professional Black Edition

Windows X P Professional SP3 32 bit Black Edition 

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So I was talking to a buddy earlier this evening and he asked me if I'd heard of Windows X P - Black Edition... After saying "Black Edition??" (needless to say, I hadn't heard of it), he directed me to a forum post on the subject. In essence, Windows X P - Black Edition is X P on DVD with plenty of other pirated software included... Software that covers every aspect of day to day computing and even some outside of it...
I made the comment about how I distrust items such as this (and not only because they're pirated and illegal)... but because I question the individual that created the DVD... the so called "Black Edition". These are people who are so unscrupulous that they're willing to pirate a plethora of software... who's to say they haven't also setup malware on the DVD... their own custom malware, undetected by any AV signatures, that makes the PC a part of a bonnet... or opens a listening port... or creates a key logger that records keystrokes and then only transmits them (over HTTPS) when it sees that HTTP traffic is occurring....especially if these actions take place as they do in my last example... only during times of heavy network traffic..
This got me thinking about piracy in general... There's tons of software out there being pirated... So why don't the vendors get involved... Take your product, create a modified version of the software and place a small piece of malware, tucked away that transmits (via HTTPS or something else popular but not plain text) the details of the users and their computer... Gathering email addresses, contact info, etc... Then use that information to go after the pirate... I realize that it isn't necessarily cost effective for the larger companies to battle piracy on an individual basis, but if some sort of relationship was setup between these vendors and law enforcement I'm sure it could be done easily... maybe information could be submitted directly to law enforcement officials...
Now I commented on this to my buddy, and he brought up Sony... He said the same thing would happen to any vendor that attempted this... I said it wouldn't... In this case it would only be affecting those willing to make use of pirated software... not individuals who are abiding the law... It's effectively an electronic string... It's like marking bills or putting a transponder on a car... He said that in North America, the public opinion would still be an outcry... that this wasn't fair and that it was wrong of the vendor to do it... I don't know that I agree... I for one would fully support any vendor that wanted to do this...