[general_re]

With software, the person is using a disc that has a copy of a copy of an installer application, and the item that this person has, the disc, was never possessed by the software company.

You could, I suppose, make a reasonable case that you are committing theft of services by pirating software - in that case, you would be stealing the services of the programmers who created the software.

[savedbygrace]

Are you referring to the end-user or to the person who did the original pirating?

Even so, it would be hard to make that case, because the actual programmers oftentimes work for a wage or a project fee. IOW, they've already been paid. That doesn't strictly apply to all programmers, obviously.

I think what mostly happens is that the end user is given a serial number that will allow the software to be installed and be used. The coding of the app isn't touched.

But I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, so what do I know?