It is stealing.
Not really, no.
Which I assumed was a synonym for theft. If you guys are really upset over what term I use, I will not say theft anymore.
I'm not "really upset over what term", I'm upset that you're conflating two extremely dissimilar crimes. Copyright infringement and theft are nowhere near the same offense no matter what you call them.
I think the confusing part is not the terminology you used. It's that the only thing being stolen is the money, not the product, whereas I believe earlier people got it in their minds that you meant that stealing something through downloading was a loss of the product.
I... Really hope not. I would think only some one very dumb would think that.
Except money isn't "being stolen". You do not directly deprive anyone of funds. You are engaging in an activity which is a potential
alternative to
giving them money. In the end, this still may mean the company winds up with less money as a result of your actions... or it may not, depending on the case, but you are not taking anything from anyone directly.
This is simply not a case of directly depriving anyone of anything, at all. It's a case of you performing actions which may have indirect and highly speculative financial harm to the company by virtue of making it more difficult for them to sell their product. At this point in the conversation, I am astonished that any of this needs to be explained.