The same could be said of grand larceny. The difference would seem to be a mix of social norms and, more notably for this conversation, very different consequences.

I think the most notable difference is that grand larceny actually deprived someone of something they would have otherwise had, while pirating something you couldn't afford to buy doesn't because there was no circumstance in which they were getting the money and piracy doesn't involve taking anything from them...

Oh I wasn’t saying the two crimes are comparable in their own terms. But specifically the statements made by the comment I responded to apply to larceny as well as to piracy.

Ah yes, the "I wouldn't have paid for it anyway, so I'm entitled to it for free" argument...

Not sure it is realistic or easier to physically steal 500k books.

I get what you are going for, but my point was that a dataset existed, and the only way it could be compiled was illegaly.