[halomru]

A bank robbery still has about as much in common with copyright violation as with pirating actual ships. I am not threatening anyone when committing copyright violations

A much more convincing argument could be made that theft and copyright violations are the same. Buy theft has quite low punishments (at least in California).

[s_q_b]

Unauthorized use or reproduction is not theft, as it does not deprive or interfere with use of the original copy.

Stealing your furniture is theft. Taking a look at your furniture, and carving another set exactly like it is copyright infringement.

[Karunamon]

..if that argument were not destroyed by the Supreme Court many years ago. Infringement is not theft, no matter how much big businesses want to equivocate the two in people's minds.