But the idea of theft is what we are debating. If I play music on my home stereo, and you hear it; did you steal it? If there is an outdoor concert, and you sit in your car and listen to it, are you a theif? If the concert uses radio to transmit the singer's voice to the mixer, and you hear it on your car radio; have you stolen it? Several of us say, quite emphatically 'No'.
No, that's allowable under copyright law.
If there is an outdoor concert, and you sit in your car and listen to it, are you a theif?
Yes, if your goal is to enjoy the whole concert without paying for it (as opposed to just overhearing it in passing).
However, this is apples and oranges -- you clearly won't get the full concert experience if you hear it distantly from the parking lot. Decrypting a satellite signal, however, you are getting the *full* product, exactly as good as that received by paying customers.
A better analogy for the outdoor concert would be, "if you crawled under the fence so you could attend the concert and took an unused seat in the audience so you could receive the full concert experience without paying, would you be stealing?"
Hell yes you would.
If the concert uses radio to transmit the singer's voice to the mixer, and you hear it on your car radio; have you stolen it?
Absolutely.
Several of us say, quite emphatically 'No'.
And you're wrong.