The world of piracy and counterfeiting

A recent report stated that the piracy and counterfeiting of software and goods amounts of billions of dollars in lost revenue to legitimate business owners. If I were in the shoes of the losing business, I would have been very upset too. But to think from the perspective of the people doing it, they believe that they are not stealing but providing a legitimate service to their country folk who would otherwise be unable to afford the stuff. Look at this way, for example, a single copy of MS office 2010 costs more than 400 dollars in the U.S. If you are going to charge the same amount of money, you would not sell a single item in the poor and developing countries. Even in Europe I believe that it would be hard to buy such expensive. Even if you sell it for 100 dollars (75 percent off the actual retail cost in the U.S.), it won’t sell in developing countries.

I still not get this point that if the companies have recuperated their investment in the U.S. or other developed countries, why do they keep on insisting to sell the same stuff at a higher price. Pricing those goods in the currencies where they are to be sold should be the better idea keeping in view how much is the per capita income is of the citizens of that country. Even in china you can buy a DVD movie for a buck when the actual cost of the original ones is much higher and the original companies instead of lowering the cost and make them more affordable so that less piracy is done, insist on cracking down on violators which is always a losing proposition.