I'm working on a product in my company that's doing something similar: we sell THING and supplies for THING

The cost for the supplies depend on the region your in. So we're setting it up that if you buy a THING in say US/Canada, you can only buy supplies from a reseller in US/Canada and not a cheaper one in Africa.

Why am I doing this? My wife lost her job due to COVID, and I'm the sole income earner right now. Once things recover I'll switch jobs.

Do you buy parts for the THING in cheaper regions? For example the components that make the THING were made in China or other country with cheap labour? If you say yes, then why do you think it is moral to remove such option from the consumer?

The THING and parts for THING are all custom made in China.

I don't think its moral, but I am stuck. My wife got laid off due to COVID and I need this job to support the family. I'm currently looking for another job.

And if someone finds a way around that arbitrary restriction, your company takes them to court for DMCA violation or hacking or something like that? Gotta love the modern world.

I doubt it's the work of one ruthless person. Presumably some team in Accounting was doing projections and concluded that it would cost less to burn their customers (especially if some willingly jumped into the flames and paid the buck a month). It seems to be a fairly common scenario that a Marketing dept. will launch something that is on shaky footing with both Legal and Accounting, and at some point will be scuttled / changed beyond recognition.

One of the key management tricks at any company is to compartmentalize the work enough such that no individual cog feels that they are doing anything wrong, regardless of the overall outcome. Companies also spend a lot of money on internal communication/propaganda to get employees in line. I'm sure the comp packages don't hurt either.