Comment by bravetraveler

Practically speaking, 'some' of the money is the same or just as good as 'all' of the money in terms of a functioning economy and not pure capitalism.

People pirate software, yet people still develop and sell it.

Yes, it's not the most profitable thing done alone. Only for those who find the nice combination or feedback loop of 'fit', demand, improvement, and expansion.

If you can make billions off the thing, you can presumably handle some GeoIP/rate limiting... or simply, not caring. Anything that falls through the cracks is categorically insignificant to your grand nature.

To justify it, if one must, consider it a trial. As your friendly neighborhood dealer would say: "The first taste is free".