> There are plenty of societies that don't respect intellectual property and copyright. And those societies don't innovate at the rate as those who do.

What it does do though is allow someone to start from zero, and catch up to the rest of the competition very fast and cheap. They can then offer their "product" cheaper in order to gain market share. As long as they are getting/keeping customers, there's no need to innovate. You can have a viable business without spending tons of cash on R&D, and if you're making money that way, who cares?

*I am no way endorsing this kind of business model, but it exists and does well.