This is why Microsoft allowed a lot of world to pirate their OS.

Microsoft actually took a unique approach to piracy. In a lot of lesser developed countries in the past, users were 'allowed' to use pirated copies. There used to be a running joke that the Israelis ran their country on a single license of MS. How true that is remains to be seen. So, while companies bristle in public about piracy, it is indeed a topic of discussion in the board room and is often a part of their loss leader strategies.

Cloudflare kind of the same thing. I can tell you that even tho I realize a large portion of the user base here are anti-Cloudflare, and while there are definite pros and cons one needs to understand before using their services, and even tho I know there are other ways to skin the cat....... even on the free tier side, I am more apt to recommend that which works well for me.