As the author claims on his website, if the price is affordable then it is counterfeit. I hope the author understands that such affordable "editions" make the book accessible and popular outside the First World.
I'm not sure about the 3rd Ed, but the 2nd Ed had a much cheaper edition in a red soft cover and slightly smaller size, presumably cheaper recycled paper and no bells and whistles. It was distributed in India and developing countries and by all appearances it was totally legit, also accompanied by a label forbidding the sale in "western" world, where presumably they wanted to adjust prices to the higher income. Of course it was just a matter of time before it would land on Ebay sellers pages and elsewhere. There is where I got mine; items photos however showed the original so I was buying in good faith, although I should have recalled that old saying that if something seems too good to be true (had a very low price) it usually is.
From what I can recall from my copy, there were no errors or omissions compared to the "official" one.
Counterfeit Warning: December, 2015 — buyers have reported poor quality copies (confirmed as counterfeit) being sold online at prices too low to be creditable. ...
The thing that's objectionable about your comment As the author claims on his website, if the price is affordable then it is counterfeit is that you're stating the author has said his book is not affordable. That is a lie, the author wrote nothing of the sort. Maybe they believe it, but if they did, they certainly had the option of doing a cheap "international version" of the 3rd edition, as so many textbooks do. They have not chosen to do that.
You're entitled to your opinions about what a book should cost, but facts are facts, and the author did not write what you said they wrote.
Inflation of textbook prices is a real problem, finding ways to make them affordable in other countries where people have less to spend is a worthy goal, and you won't aid the cause by falsely attributing words or intentions to people.
The citation is a verbatim copy. Combine this to the current book price and you get the actual intention of the author. You are free to call this whatever you want, it does not change the meaning. No need of the word play please.
Also, the refusal to sign such affordable edition of the book is another *ss move from the author.