Buying Used and Pirating...

Those arguments seem to be side stepping the main issue. It shouldn't be a contest to prove how much monetary loss piracy really digs out from under a company's profit, but simply the fact that if you're not willing to pay the price of admission, you don't get to see the show. Even if you'd never see a movie in a million years, the ease of sneaking in isn't a related factor to the moral dilemma of stealing a viewing. You have the price asked by the peddler and your willingness to purchase. It shouldn't be negotiable to say that you're not sold on that product for that price so you'll obtain it without cost through different channels.

And isn't it different than many of the examples provided? By the sheer volume and speed of availability, file sharing and torrents aren't comparable to most fair use examples. DVRing television and maybe having some friends over to view a program even when they don't have cable isn't quite the dent of dozens and dozens of files a day in every sort of media being available on day one to obtain without cost, both high and low profile releases, all with very limited know how of a few sites and programs and a few clicks of the mouse. And how people can't separate that from the occasional buddy who loans you his stuff, and you occasionally to him, that's beyond me.

I wouldn't say the practice should be villiainized as taking food out of the mouths of starving artist's children, but justified as valid? Same as handing over a newspaper you're finished reading? The difference is one against thousands.

Jam it back in, in the dark.