You would be right if there was a law 'watching infringing material', equivalent to 'receiving stolen goods' - but there is no such law.
I have received a lot of emotive disagreement and conflation of terms but where is the statute or precedent that says downloading is illegal ?
There is none. Sadly or happily depending on ones position.
Yet I don't understand all this disagreement with the facts.
Please if you believe I am wrong it would be quite easy to substantiate the argument by a citation of statute or precedent.
I have looked into this matter quite extensively and there is no such legal prohibition.
That's a counter-example. Drug punishments aren't related to this at all, but we do charge people for possession AND we charge people for distribution.