system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I believe Internet Piracy is theft and that in no way is it a morally upstanding activity. CMV

I want to preface my argument by saying that I am not opposed to the actual act of piracy. I myself take part quite frequently. In my short life I have had the privilege of growing up with the internet and have illegally downloaded or pirated thousands of songs, dozens of full music albums, hundreds of TV episodes, plenty of movies and a few computer games. I also spend a large chunk of my time on the internet streaming shows and movies online using sites that host copyrighted material.

I have no real problem with piracy. It doesn't bother me that companies lose money to it. I have no issue with people who do it, and I don't judge anyone for it. I don't work in the entertainment industry, and none of my friends do either. I've never been personally affected by it. What I'm trying to say is that I am not opposed to pirating material online and don't care or look down on anyone for the same act. I'm entirely indifferent to the act. It sounds callous but I don't consider the moral implications enough to make me care, especially with digital goods not being limited by limited resources. However I think that it is always a morally negative action.

What I do object to is when people act like they're doing the world some sort of service by pirating things online. It's stealing. You can't just go out and illegally obtain things that people have created and are selling and act like you're in the right. They may make a ton of money otherwise, but you can't pretend that it isn't legitimately that company's product to sell. You're taking from them. It's not some great stand against the horrible corporate menace, you're just committing a crime by taking someone else's property without paying for it in return. You're wronging someone, you're not being wronged by paying for goods and services. Just because you might not be hurting anyone seriously, it still has a negative effect, because when you steal a digital good they don't have to replace it but they have lost you as a potential customer. Piracy is theft, plain and simple.

TL;DR - I like piracy, I do it myself, but stop pretending it's not a crime and that it's a good thing.
gpt
>You're taking from them.

The reason piracy isn't theft is that this isn't true. You're not *taking* anything. They still have exactly what they had before you pirated.

It's still a crime, and it's still morally wrong, but it's not theft.