[analogZero]

Artists don't lose money out of piracy, it's the companies that lose profits. That's about all. They lose out of profits, that in turn reflect poorly for shareholders, and all those people affiliated who have too much money, as a result of taking money earned by artists in the first place, end up getting upset that their overwhelmingly large bank account isn't as big as it should be. I don't feel bad when somebody can't afford the big yacht and has to settle on the deluxe mid-sized 30 footer.
That's easy enough to say for the music and movie industry, but piracy manages to plague everything affiliated with computers. This means that software is a prime target as well. If I were going to feel for anyone it'd be software makers. They not only have to deal with piracy, but cracks and key generation to break through the security of their software. So the money that they spend away on developing the next foolproof means of safe guarding their product from piracy (which is piracy in this case, it's not sharing) is inevitably wasted every time they create a new version. That's not to say that most software companies aren't swimming in money either, but they actually suffer greater consequence and can legitimately claim they've been robbed. Whereas a record company, if given the legal bypass, would likely try and collect on somebody playing one of their songs at a party where multitudes of people hear it, but haven't purchased it. Hyperbole? maybe.

And I am a pirate, Ryu, but not that kind...my ship doesn't have wheels on the back and ride on a street (wtf?)