software piracy has two effects - it keeps prices lower and it helps spread the purchase of legal licenses of software. It helps spread the legal license of so

software piracy has two effects - it keeps prices lower and it helps spread the purchase of legal licenses of software. It helps spread the legal license of software because by using illegal software you learn how to use it and when you get to a job you ask your employer for a version of the software you are familiar with, or because others need to buy software to interop with your illegal software. There is not really any reason to suppose that pirated books help the sale of real books in a similar manner.