There's a new Vista on the streets of Latin America. And it has little to do with the scenery. In fact, it costs less than $10 dollars. Following the commercial availability of Vista starting with January 30, 2007, bootlegged copies of the operating system have been popping up around the world. China took the stage in this manner, providing a cradle for Vista piracy, with counterfeit versions selling for as little as $1.

Now Latin America follows. At just over a week after the customer launch of Vista, pirated copies have flooded the streets of Mexico City or Sao Paolo. And the prices are all but dirt cheap, and no more than $10. The bootlegged versions do not only contain the pirated discs, but also the graphics of the original Microsoft packages, although they are only cheap imitations. Moreover, as Microsoft launched Windows Vista on 70 markets around the world, the versions available in Latin America are in the local languages. One thing the pirates failed to copy is the actual packaging of Windows Vista, the pirated copies being sold in ordinary DVD cases.

On a global piracy map, Brazil follows only China, Russia and India as a hotspot for bootlegged software. Estimates reveal that the counterfeit software industry generates in excess of $30 billion per year only in Brazil. The piracy in Mexico produces financial damages of over $525 million.