Noel, have you ever even read the GPL?

Can you imagine microsoft's or oracle's reaction if I include certain pieces of "their" software in my product? I assure you, it wouldn't be pretty.

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander - the GPL does not prevent you reimplementing similar functionality. If you take the short-cut of using GPL code instead of doing the implementation yourself, you pay the price, enforced by the same copyright laws that give the information monopolists their power too.

"Without copyright law the GPL would be unenforceable. It would also be unnecessary".
The GPL is merely an effort at restoring some balance.

Microsoft would not like you putting their IP into your product unless you licensed it, or otherwise had an agreement with them. On the other hand, if you had their IP in your product, you would pay damages or be forced to take it out, rather than Microsoft changing the licensing terms of the rest of your work (like the GPL).

Microsoft makes quite similar claims in its "shared source" license terms, BTW. Again, sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander. Using (well, distributing) GPL code in violation of the GPL license is akin to violating a license to code from microsoft, not to totally unauthorised use of code.