Michala Alexander, head of Microsoft’s antipiracy program recently said “Even if we dropped prices, people would still counterfeit the software.” Well, in China Microsoft has dropped their prices on Windows Vista by as much as 67%. Of course they hope that at least some people will buy their product legally if the price is lower, but is this such a good idea, and how will this effect pricing in the rest of the world?

In underdeveloped or developing countries people simply don’t make enough money to afford software, yet they need it, so they obtain it illegally. Just like with shoplifting, piracy raises the cost honest people end up paying for a product. Companies certainly don’t want to loose profit, so they’ll simply take more from those willing and able to pay. It would therefore seem obvious that increased piracy would cause increased prices (which of course would cause a further increase in piracy). Microsoft knows that people in China aren’t going to pay more, they’re not paying anything now! Lowering the price is their way of trying to at least get some money out of them.

As someone who spends the money to buy my software legally, I feel like I’ve been ripped off. Someone else is getting the same product, but paying far less. Why is that? Well, because I live in the United States, which has the lowest piracy rate–21 percent–of any country. It would appear that despite the common belief that piracy drives up prices, we need to increase our level of piracy in the US so that Microsoft will lower their prices, as they have in China. So come on people, start stealing so I can save a few dollars!