Quote Originally Posted by Scurvy
there's very little difference, both are taking something away from the company and gaining it for yourself
The point is that the thing that's taken away from the company is potental revenue, not actual revenue. For example, if a person downloads an album that he/she would never had bought anyway (because it's too expensive), the record company haven't actually lost something in the process.

In that way, it's as much stealing as when you consider buying something in one store, but doesn't because you can get it cheaper somewere else.