[pcroh]

If I shoplift a bag of Doritos, the shop has one fewer bag of Doritos.

If I pirate a show, it doesn't disappear from Disney's hard drives.

[lillesvin]

People use "steal" like that all the time. "You stole my idea." "He stole my look!" "She stole my song." Etc... So I don't really think that's a very good argument.

[vinylkey]

What's a good word for "obtaining digital content without paying for the right to possess said digital content"?

[lonelappde]

The shop doesn't care about the Doritos. The owner isn't going to eat them. The shops only care about getting paid by who takes the Doritos.