To me, this argument clearly states that they believe they make more money from a premium price with a restricted supply that encourages piracy than they would from an easily available product that would reduce piracy.
Do you also steal diamonds? Gas? McRibs? After all, those are also products who's supply is artificially constrained. I'm not trying to be inflammatory, but however you try and justify theft, it's still theft. The market is functioning, you just don't like how it works right now.
Software and media are both zero marginal cost products, so when someone pirates it, I don't consider it theft. Left to run rampant, piracy could create a situation where it wasn't viable to run that business anymore, which I would care about. However, the claim has long been countered by people saying that the business themselves are in a better position to deal with this problem without additional government involvement. I believe this article and the other from dcurtis clearly shows that the later is true for HBO.
Yes, the market is functioning, and I like it just fine. Piracy is creating a ceiling on how much a company can charge for their product while still making it widely available for enjoyment of people. Piracy in this case is serving as price discrimination allowing the most possible number of people to enjoy it while those who are able to afford it or care enough are paying for it. It appears as though the current market is doing a rather nice job of maximizing social benefit.
Would I steal gas or McRibs, no, those are both a clearly limited item. Now diamonds are a fun one I have never thought of. Rumor has it that there are warehouses full of diamonds they DeBeers keeps of the market to drive up the price of diamonds as a jewelry item. Hypothetically, lets say I had designed a new industrial laser than would help make the lives of other human beings better off, but I need a giant diamond that at current artificially restricted price doesn't make economic sense. In this case, yes, I think I would steal a diamond and not feel bad about it. But then again, although I am not a purist, many of my ideas about morality are utilitarian. Especially with zero marginal cost goods.
Do you also steal diamonds? Gas? McRibs? After all, those are also products who's supply is artificially constrained. I'm not trying to be inflammatory, but however you try and justify theft, it's still theft. The market is functioning, you just don't like how it works right now.