Exactly what I was implying. But thats not the type of piracy we are talking about. This thread is about people downloading software illegally that they did not purchase. We are talking about commercial software, not GPL code infringement which is a whole different side of piracy.
I understand what you're saying but disagree with you. The trouble here is that people are constantly equating piracy with theft and have conceptualized it to mean "stealing."
A series of simple thought experiments reveals that the theft of intellectual property is a fundamentally different beast than a simple property crime. The only thing they really have in common is that something was taken or used that should have been paid for or at least attributed, but wasn't.
The realization of this difference and the subsequent laws meant to fairly regulate it have been around almost as long as the printing press.
In terms of software, it's different enough in concept such that it doesn't occur to most 12 year olds to equate the two. In fact, for most people, it's a concept that has to be taught. It was a foreign concept to most in 1979 when Bill Gates sent his letter demanding payment.
The more people equate infringement one to one with stealing, the more problem they're going to have difficulty gaining traction because on a gut level, it doesn't make enough sense.
Back to your point, GPL code violations and software piracy is fundamentally the same thing - a violation of the rights of the copyright holder of any copyrighted work. The problem is that people simplify the argument and end up arguing the analogy instead of the issue.
