Videogames piracy - Why so much hate?

[Sejanus]

I'm in the Alice + Napoleon camp on this one.
I'll share some of my piracy stories... and you tell me how they're "stealing".
Spore:
I purchased a physical copy of this game, but I lost it/left it behind when I moved house. I then got an urge to play it, but didn't feel I should have to pay for it twice, so I pirated it.

Mount & Blade: Warband:
I pirated this game to try it. I loved the game, but the pirated versions obviously don't get patches, so I couldn't install new mods, and also couldn't play multiplayer. So then I bought it. And the only reason I bought it is because I pirated it and was able to try it.

Going slightly off the gaming side of piracy:
Megadeth:
I found their music on youtube, loved it, and downloaded most of their songs and put them on my phone. I wanted something to play in the car, so I bought their CDs, and also several Megadeth t-shirts. I will also most definitely buy tickets to a concert if they ever come to NZ. Their music isn't really mainstream today and I never really hung around with the kind of kids who might listen to them, so if not for piracy I'd never have been exposed to them.

So in my personal experience, piracy actually boosts sales.