I think Cypher pretty much destroyed the OPs argument with his post already so I won't argue over the correct usage of the word 'theft' in legal application.

I'm genuinely curious though.... can anyone who has posted in this thread (on either side of the argument) genuinely claim to have NEVER committed piracy? Be it for games, music, movie or software etc in their entire life?

I have never encountered someone in my generation who hasn't done so at some point in their life, be it through downloading torrents, file sharing programs or even copying pirated files from a friend.

Anyone? Come lets be honst fella? I'd like to give the first innocent person a standing ovation and a medal of integrity.

Way to twist my argument. I never said I "deserved" to do it. I'm just saying that if happens. Publishers don't sell games here, so that means they obviously don't care about how we got our games. If they cared a bit, at least they'd ship their games here. What's the convenience of original games if I can't buy them in a retail store and have to import them from who-knows-where, having to suffer in addition the horrible custom taxes plus the difficulty that is importing things (I have money in the Internet that I've been trying for a month to cash in and I can't do it due to my stupid country regulations, I don't wanna imagine what would be with importing games)

Ok, I am glad someone started this thread. I was looking to start a thread on this, so now I can use this one.

When an industry has to deal with piracy, it is dealing with being stiffed on work they did. A person who repeatedly has stuff done for the them, that they don't compensate work being done is a mooch and a leech, denying people who work on something compensation for labor.

Now we get to the theft part. Besides deny people compensation for work done, you add the intellectual properties argument. When individuals create intellectual property, they create a licensing agreement upon which the material can be viewed and/or used. If the terms say, "We must be paid before you can view/read/watch/play/etc..." then if you violate this contract you are engaged in a violation of property rights of the owner. And this violation can be theft, in the area of intellectual property. Industrial spying involves going into somewhere, and making copies of intellectual property. This making a copy is called "theft". Transfer of ownership of property without permission of the owner, is theft. So, piracy is theft.

Of course, intellectual property lives and dies by how much if spreads. Information wants to be free and go all over. The key for society, and the creators of intellectual property, is to hit the right balance so their creation is spread all over, and they are properly compensated.

They are pathetic.  Not sure what kind of friends these are, or why you need them. 

In a place I am staying a guy asked me how to run torrent and burn them to DVDs.  I understand he is low on money, but come on.

Buying used is different.  A person is done with a product, so they transfer the ability to use to someone else.  It is nearly the same as giving away what you are done with, or even what libraries have, where you borrow.  The amount of content in use is restricted by what has been paid.  However, it is now bothering me that now that piracy is a near non-issue for consoles, you have the videogame industry targeting used game sales, as if they would ban it.  They also wanted to ban rentals also in the past.

Back in the day, I remember when discussing this, the pirate went off and showed how there were free games out there (like the Apple II program EAMON), so piracy didn't hurt anyone really. 

If people wouldn't own consoles, and didn't do videogames as a hobby, due to the price, then the industry would have to adjust itself accordingly to its price points and so on.  Because it of the piracy, it doesn't make the needed changes, and there isn't enough money in the system to raise the standard of living.  Piracy is masking what is actually going on and hurting prices coming down.

actually due to downloading games for my psp i admit illegal i have actually bought many of them because i like to have a physical copy, such as monster hunter and such, another thing is used games, if you buy a used game you are not supporting the developer because the reseller gets the profit, and sometimes i have to dl a game cause its impossible to find a new copy, so even if i bought a used copy i am not supporting the developer

I pirated games like crazy when I was a nipper.

Now I've got my own money, and can be discerning about what I buy, I dont pirate games.

Films are another matter altogether. I think the whole thing is a giant rip off. I only want to watch a film once but for this privelege in London I get charged 12 GBP/ 20 USD. Screw that.

I'll wait for it to come out on television or download a DVD rip. Watch once and destroy. I have been known to retro actively buy a film a really enjoyed but its not often.

Most films are plain rubbish and I just feel happy I didnt get duped into going to the cinema.

Rubbish films I've watched recently...........

Watchmen...........Yawn, a waste of 2 hours of your life.
Knowing..............Derivative pap
The Day the Earth Stood Still........Terrible remake. Quite good SFX tho.

Metaphysical theft. Your a total genius.