Patents in their current incarnation are theft.

Lemme give an example of how I see this:

I have some idea to do something in a certain way, and because of that I declare it forbidden to everyone else to do it the same way, except they pay me something to be allowed to do it that way.

Wouldn't you think of something like F! How dare he/she/it/whatever?

I don't mean to nit pick, but it's seems like the only way to iron this out. "Theft is defined as stealing" isn't right. Rather: theft is defined as stealing property (or services). Property means real possessions in this context, not intangibles like IP.

A person can steal an idea (or market share) and it wouldn't make them a thief.

The fact that a victim of copyright infringement may end up disadvantaged to the exact same extent as if they were a victim of theft does not magically equate the two, even if the two involve stealing.

It is almost as if the efforts by the RIAA et al ( framing copying as stealing, would you steal a car? ) have worked.

My comment is in the red.