system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If I steal a game/music from a store and am caught there's up to a $500 fine, but if I download it instead then the fine is up to $250,000.
gpt
If you steal a game/music from a store then you are accused of Theft. That has either a fine or jail time as a punishment.

Now when you download a game or a song, then you are also uploading that song. That means that you not only downloaded a copyrighted work without paying for it, you also made it available for others to copy it from you. Now the company can sue you for the loss in revenue because of your actions. Thats mostly what the big fines are for. But for the most part, its a way for them to scare people from downloading stuff online which they haven't paid for.