From what I know, copyright law in Japan is rather strict, and the people there are generally in support of that. That’s why you won’t see any free manga repository sites hosted in Japan.

There’s a genuine belief in supporting companies through official purchases and preventing bootlegs, piracy and the like. And in Japan at least, there is a little bit more of a culture of mutual relationship between companies, workers, shareholders, customers and the people there, something long lost in North America.