@Werekitten: Thats a well made argument.
A good analogy would be fishing and fishing quotas.
It doesn't matter individually if one fishing boat breaks the quota and takes more fish than it is allowed because theres plenty of fish in the sea, but in general its simply a case of the tragedy of the commons where people who take more fish don't pay attention to the fact that other people take too many fish as well.
In this case when too many people pirate we get the dual problem of excessive regulation and enforcement expense and fewer fish (games) to go around. This is why the government treats piracy of intellectual property so seriously and why PC gaming is a shadow of its former self. So whilst the fact that games aren't a depleteable resource (like fish) the behaviours surrounding piracy and the effects of it are quite similar in their effects.
Tease.
