A pirate in Skopje is in direct competition will Bill Gates. This is a threat which Microsoft cannot tolerate. A Macedonian with an average monthly income of of 160 USD clearly cannot afford to buy the Encyclopaedia Encarta Deluxe. In Macedonian terms, therefore, the Encarta is 20 times more expensive. Something must be done about it not only from the economic point of view.
Intellectual products are very price sensitive and highly elastic.
Lower prices will be more than compensated for by a much higher sales volume. High prices are an implicit trade-off favouring small, elite, select, rich world clientele. Two developments threaten the future of intellectual property rights. One is the Internet. I published a few book on the Internet and they can be freely downloaded by anyone who has a computer or a modem.