Sadly when you combine the SOPA and PIPA government enforced corporate greed with US courts happy to grant companies patents on more and more stupid basic things, for example Apple getting a patent on the user clicking on an icon while also making a call (
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_1...-during-calls/), the situation can only get worse.
Add to this the ability of US courts to now have people deported for alleged crimes that are not even illegal in the country they live in and we will be lucky to see any flight sims under $500 once the royalties are paid.
EDIT:
Forgot to mention that whereas intellectual property rights for everyone else in the world eventually expire, US corporations (after a recent Disney test case over Mickey Mouse of all things) have the ability to renew copyright/patents etc indefinitely. Unlike anyone else in the world, US corporations now have unlimited rights that never expire.