Hi Vlad and John,

I bought two books last month: "Java 1.2 Unleashed" for $21 and "Teach Yourself Microsoft SQL Server 7 in 21 Days" for $19 in local bookstores. These titles would cost you about $40 each. The reason is that Sams begins to publish special low priced edition of their titles to be sold in this part of the World. If a big company like Sams can do that, why cannot UT? Also, the Visual Studio I use is an academic edition. I would guess that these companies ended up with higher profits.

I think that to have a lower PUTM rate for poorer countries will create a win-win situation for developers in those countries and UT as bussiness. I think that UT will end up selling more. I do not think it is too hard to enforce the rule: low priced PUTMs can only login as PUTM from allowed domains.

I do preciate the free basic membership (thanks Michel!). However, I know that I am greedy :) Here in Bangkok, we bargain for anything we buy and both buyers and sellers have fun in the bargaining process. Bargaining on the Internet seems fun too :)

Vlad, I know that you originated from Romania. I still remember the brotherhood-like relationship between Romania and China years back. I had a lot of chances to watch Romania movies and I like them. I even met your president in 1982 at Peking University where I was a student.

Chen