I've been to Greece and Cyprus a few years back - 2004 and 2005 respectively. There are shops in both that are full of CDs which are obviously pirate copies. Not some dodgy character selling them out of a suit case - these are actual shops and they make not the slightest effort to hide it.
Also you can walk into any shop and buy a 3ft long sword. Nobody there even cares.
Also you can walk into any shop and buy a 3ft long sword. Nobody there even cares.
Same here in the Philippines. Just for example, an original new game here costs around P4,000. Your average Joe earns about P200 a day. Copied games cost less that P100 a piece.
I'm not saying it's a good thing but you can see why it's done. Just so I don't get flamed or something, I'll add that I go out of my way to buy original software.