I think pirating is like cheating in relationships. The society should discourage it, but to criminalize it is much worse than just to let it happen. Yes, the solution is possibly not stable or consistent, yet adhering to either side of consistent moral principles is arguably worse.

Many people do both, sometimes in a weird, selective way. I know I do, I pirate a lot, yet if I really care about something (or it's harder to obtain, which is kind of equalizing authors' profits), I will buy it.