How is it theft if the original still exists? If I copy your words above verbatim and send it to a friend, is that theft? Your comment will still exist unless dang deems otherwise.
It might be costly or undesirable to the producers, but that's just a problem with digital media. Enforcement is always going to be difficult unless we invite 'rightsholders' to control our devices.
But that's besides the point. If a law is unenforceable, it doesn't really matter. You could create a law mandating everyone wear green socks on Tuesdays, and see how many people comply. Or (looking to what is as you wish) how many people enjoy a puff of a joint despite it being illegal in most places?
Or remember the US banning the export of cryptography algorithms? How well did that go?
The state has guns but even they have limitations if I decide to copy a few words off a page in private among my friends. Same if I send them a few bytes using HTTP/SMTP/whatever.
Many parts of the internet are filled with people who feel entitled to steal the work done by other people without compensating them for it. HN is no exception.
The Native Americans sold New York in a consensual deal - not that one theft begets another, even if they hadn't.
I mean, not that I personally have a problem with New York returning to Native ownership, but it's both (1) wrong to claim that it wasn't purchased in a consensual deal and (2) completely and totally irrelevant to the problem of digital piracy and entitlement to the work of others.
This kind of logic makes me believe that pirates can't be reasoned with - that theft is a core part of their moral framework - but only when it benefits them, of course. If they perceive that their employer isn't paying them what they're due, it suddenly becomes a huge problem.
