>>Pirated copies are all over, from Asia to East Europe to South America: we need to understand, with the economies being so different, USD$300 is very difficult to pay if your monthly salary or income is in the $100-$200 range.
>>I'm not condoning piracy, I'm just pointing out were the problem has its roots.
>>
>
>So I should get penalized for living in the US, and have to pay full retail for my developer's licenses and MSDN? That's unfair to me and my clients - in fact, it's an open invitation for them to deal with people outside the US to take advantage of their pricing.
>
>What about things like schooling? Should the cost of courses and tests be reduced for overseas developers for their certification? There's less high-technology development, so should the standards be reduced for certification, too? What about educational costs - my graduate schooling was quite expensive compared to attending a similar school in Latin America (admittedly, I'd likely have to learn Spanish or Portugese to attend). Or will someone underwrite the cost of my pursuing more than a minimal education?
>
>No, thanks.

Good points although going to extremes.

But, like it or not, you are already being "penalized" for living in the US, as an example, if you care, just compare the price of the same medicines here and in other countries, and I'm talking about CAN and Europe, first world places. Pharmaceutical arguments could serve me well to keep arguing here.
But now is crunching time for me, so I won't go there.

And, at the end, this is M$ decision, I was just trying to show here how reality is in the rest of the world, as much as I remember it.

Max