Software piracy strikes me as something most appropriately cast as a civil offense. Like physical theft, it allows the 'thief' to freely obtain something they would not otherwise have had without paying. But with physical theft, there is a risk of physical violence or damage. With piracy, there is not. So, while I can understand certain aspects of a physical theft to incur criminal charges, I think piracy is less deserving of a criminal label. Without trying to make a judgment about the pros and cons of piracy for an industry (because there appear to be both), I simply want to suggest that music piracy is very low on the list of things that I want my government to be involved in.

The RIAA/MPAA are co-opting the government into spending taxpayer dollars to enforce the recording industry's licensing policies. It's a crafty but regressive strategy that seems unlikely to be successful in the long term.