Piracy is big in the Philippines, that's a fact. It has become so prevalent that most Filipinos aren't aware that they've purchased a counterfeit. They don't know the difference.
Stroll the main streets and you're bound to come across at least three vendors selling fake products: Movies, music, watches, even popular phones are faked and sold here.
It has become part of the Filipino culture that the common street cop doesn't even register these type of vendors.
These merchants are not frowned upon by the general public, and these supposed "raids" they show on Network news are as effective as traffic lights for the blind.
Most of the counterfeits comes from China. I am not being racist, I am merely stating a fact: China is the Philippines' number one source of Pirated junk. Chinese fakes became so common that "China made" became synonymous for "fake". I know, an unfair cliche since there's plenty of international and legal companies that has factories in China. Heck, My phone is made in China, but cliches have a grain of truth in them, that's how cliches are.
I've told a friend that I've bought a couple of apps from the Play store and his comment proved my point. He said that I'm the only one he knew that has ever bought an app. I've met people as well who has held off buying a device just because the said device hasn't been "cracked" yet to use counterfeit materials.
I have yet to meet, in person, people who have bought anything from the Steam Store, PSN Store, or Google Play. I know they are out there, I know they exist because I'm a member of a gaming forum, but they are rare, very rare. I am stating this fact because I want to go multiplayer sometimes and I don't want to bother a stranger from my forum to help me with some of the multiplayer trophies.
the members of this gaming forum that I frequent and I share the same frustration with gaming piracy. For us, game piracy can scare a big game publisher away, it can prevent a potentially good game from being made, it can even kill a console's line.
Admittedly, I am not rich and legal games are hard on my pocket, but I do it for the principle that we owe them for entertaining us, also the fact that I love my devices and don't want piracy to corrupt them, literally and figuratively.
Big companies, specially those who release some sort of digital content and widely popular products, tend to steer away from the Philippine Market. The country has a big red paint of Piracy shame across it, and sadly, the general public does not care. But the select few suffers from it, those who goes legit can't buy whatever they want because those items are not being sold or distributed to the Philippines.
It's easy to say that those who buy counterfeits are to blame, but it's not that black and white. Those who cannot have tend to take the other route, and the Philippines is one of the countries that "cannot have" because the country is sadly poor. We are so immersed in the fake thing because the best thing is unattainable, piracy is so normal because children and the generations before them are raised in that environment. How do big corporations fight piracy when all they've know since birth is that piracy is OK?
I think companies punishing pirates are one way, but for the Philippines, they should also show how legitimate sources are more beneficial that the counterfeit. Companies should energetically promote the benefits of going legit. Don't just stop on "Go genuine" and don't add "or go to jail", it's not going to work in this country. Make it "Go genuine because the benefits and perks are better than what pirates offer.."
Educate the Filipinos, not threaten them to submission.. we are a stubborn and ignorant lot.
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