If I’m pirating something that I would have avoided entirely had I needed to pay, literally no one is taking any losses.
What does this statement mean then? Why would you pirate something if you had no interest in it? If it’s interesting enough to download, it must have been worth something to you.
I think everyone here is just trying to justify piracy because it doesn’t meet some archaic definition of the word “theft”, when in reality, the definitions of counterfeiting and unauthorized access to intellectual property are 100% met.