they need to lower the prices of the movies .. Im not paying $30 for a movie.

That's exactly what happens in countries which have excessively high piracy rates. They can't compete with the guy who sells a pirate DVD on the corner for $1, so instead of charging $30 in that country, they'll charge $2 instead and at least try and get some of the market.

hmm... what country is that?

such tactics will do absolutely nothing. Why would someone buy your product for twice as much as he/she can get away for?

Not to mention, making us first world good citizens look like idiots for actually pay regular prices for product

Only solution is through tougher regulation and better education.

Thailand, Malyasia, Bali, Indonesia, etc..

This isn't limited to movies either, software also gets discounted. I can purchase brand new PC games imported through ebay from Thailand for under 1/2 the cost of them in Australia.

Even MS is in on the action (an older article, but the first one I found):

"Wilderotter said final pricing for Starter Edition has not been determined but noted that it will be the company's "most affordable operating system in the market." Reports have pegged the price of the Thai version at about US$36."

http://www.builderau.com.au/news/soa/Five-countries-to-get-cheap-Windows-XP/0,339028227,339130440,00.htm

Piracy has always been around and will continue to be. Though I don't this is too big a deal as for example DVDs have been pirated for years and that format is doing just fine.

This is what happnes when a format truly becomes famous.

As for the topic, ... er... Sonys gonna hunt them down like a _________ lol!

Why would someone buy your product for 30 times as much, or even infinitely more when you just download it?

The recent surveys by DHG showed that the problem with lack of awareness for Blu Ray. A lot of people didn't even know the format war was over. They need to push for the fact that HD streaming and upscaled DVD is not the same as Blu Ray.

somehow im supposed to feel sorry for blu ray but I always liked HD DVD way better.. less DRM issues, cheaper disc/player costs same quality video...

When i can find a player for $150 and movies cost $20 Ill upgrade...

No doubt piracy is evil.. but its like wanking off.. everyone does it but no one talks bout it.

It's a shame that survey's show that the general public isn't capable of telling the difference in most cases.  This coupled with the appropriate resolution vs viewing distance vs tv size show how little most people benefit from 1080p movies.