Simply stating that you've "silenced the" theft argument doesn't make it so. Anymore than the Church branding Galileo a heretic didn't refute heliocentrism.
One can say the same about simply stating something is theft, and not making an effort to address the response point by point.
Is anyone disputing that the purchasing power of one group/person is being increased at the expense of another against their will. This generally meets the accepted definition of stealing.