b) they still got all the money for the cars
       they produced, there is not a single missing

In such an event the car maker won't be able to recuperate its sunk costs, and the writing would be clearly on the wall, so such a magical car will never be produced, unless there's legislation in place that prevents people from giving away free cars.

In software or creative endeavorers, where the sunk cost is mostly measured in time spent on the task, there are always people willing to give away their work for free (having other incentives than money). Internet also makes it easier to find other people with the same interests and collaborate.

But make no mistake about it - hobbyists will never be able to create something like an Audi, or an Avatar or an Adobe Photoshop for that matter (yes, I'm a happy GIMP user, it ain't and never will be on the same level as Photoshop).

     I buy the DVD on amazon.com, but while it's 
     shipping I torrent the same movie and watch it. 
     Is it still a theft?

Imagine you're Da Vinci, and I'm displaying a copy of Gioconda in my museum, half the size, with the hue changed, with less details and cropped, saying to people that that's just like the original Gioconda ... after all the hard work you've put, I'd imagine you'd get upset too.

On the other hand it isn't right for people to get charged multiple times for the same movie. So I guess piracy itself is as morally-wrong as these ripoffs.

    If I torrent something "getting for free" 
    is never the reason to do that.

Personally I'm sick of bad movies that lured me to see them because of a fancy trailer that exhibited non-representative traits of the movie.

Also for software, 30 days valuation periods are not enough for complex software like Office or Photoshop. Also, software like Photoshop Elements should be free of charge, or you should get some sort of refund when buying Photoshop.

This is the real problem IMHO - ripoffs.

What if we consider what I'll deem the 'general public' when THEY download movies, music and videogames? Is their mindset as enlightened as you, myself and others on HN and similar places?

When someone posts on Facebook or whatever the equivalent is (Myspace, ICQ or whatever) for that time period "How do I use x" with x being torrents, Napster or whatever, they seem for the most part to simply want to get something without paying for it.

I can think back then and being the 'computer guy' I'd get asked how to use Kazaa or whatever was popular, right now it's torrents. Why did they want to know? Because they wanted to get something without paying for it and technology simply streamlined that ancient human desire of wanting something for nothing which desire is one of the bases that man ever once stole.

In my younger days I would pirate much though nowadays I have essentially stopped. I would once play the newest games whether I was able to pay for them or not, now I go without, for the time being, like with Portal 2 - I haven't played it yet and I guess I won't till I buy it though I could easily pirate it. Am I 'missing out'? Apparently.. meh. I did recently buy Sparrow, the email client, and it is excellent.

But hey, we all know Linux users are willing to give billions of dollars for good software - the Humble Bundle has proved that. ;)

Wiring into the neighborhood cable-tv network without paying is an example of "theft of services", as is sneaking into a movie theater.

Making an illegal copy still takes money out of somebody's pocket. Saying that you wouldn't (or couldn't) have bought the product makes no difference-- the demand is still being alleviated, and non-zero.

Piracy is a form of counterfeiting, not stealing.

"and to top all that I also buy a DVD? How about now, is it still the theft?"

Because most people who pirate don't do this.

"My point is: there is a real difference between an illegal copy and a theft, not just some semantics."

Well, it still has destroyed these industries. Over time, with more and more piracy available, people are going to feel that they should be getting this content for free. The market value will go down, and it will become increasingly difficult to make any money at all. With no money in an industry, that industry will most likely die.

The value of most digital goods are in the minds of the people that want to purchase it (similar to currency or a service). When this is devalued because of piracy, I don't know if I would necessarily call it 'theft', but it's still in the same family. The owners are losing money because of your actions. It's worse than theft because it's not like you can just buy another one. It devalues the entire product, forever.

"If I torrent something "getting for free" is never the reason to do that. The reasons are either availability or convenience. If there was a way to buy movies in digital format (I cannot even buy music on iTunes in my country, only apps) I'd spend a lot more money on them. App Store and Mac App store are the good indicator of that."

Right. Just like music? I've heard all these excuses before. 10 years ago, when Napster came out, the people that were justifying piracy came up with all these excuses too: They wanted to be able to "try before buying", cheap music, and to put a stop to "artists getting screwed".

Now, there are services like last.fm and pandora, music is cheap (99c or less is pretty damn cheap for a song), and artists don't need to be on a label to succeed (social networking FTW). Has piracy stopped? No, there are a new set of excuses and piracy is worse than ever.

I don't think it will ever stop. There will always be a new set of excuses to legitimize selfishness.

Huh? That's a completely specious claim.

The owner of the rights to the TV show may not be offering the product in your market--yet. The may choose to do so at some point in the future. Whether they do or not, it has no bearing on the fact that you are consuming their product (and infringing on their rights) without paying.

Your argument is essentially saying that it isn't theft of services if a 15-year-old sneaks into an R-rated movie, because the theater won't sell them a ticket.