Microsoft has been applying for patents for hardware-based license security and Digital Rights Management. But with their applications come an explicit statement on piracy’s being more rampant in developing economies.
Especially in emerging markets, software piracy poses a fundamental threat to software companies. While the cost of duplicating software is near zero, the cost of duplicating hardware provides a significant deterrent to piracy.
Is the bias uncalled-for? Perhaps if Windows didn’t cost PhP 5,000 apiece, and Office upwards of PhP 10,000, then software piracy won’t be so rampant here in the Philippines. Unlike our western counterparts, licensing costs of most software titles are well beyond our means!