Can piracy be a good thing?

[cleveland124]

code.samurai said:
There are lots of examples of popular successful platforms that may have been helped by piracy Windows, PS1, PS2, Wii, DS.

I would actually say the converse is true.  As systems become more popular they are pirated more.  Xbox was very easy to pirate but I've noticed that is gone from your list.  And Wii may be piratable but it is one of the most difficult systems to pirate since disc based systems have been around.