Detecting and blocking those apps from accessing the Spotify servers.
> They're dealt with in the same way, by getting legitimate app stores such as Apple's to take down the pirate apps
Those are modified versions of the official app, violating its copyright. That's not the same thing as blocking a third-party app because it doesn't work the way Spotify likes.
In other words, the app itself is being pirated. That's a completely separate issue from "Spotify Premium features for free".
> Writing about piracy, as TorrentFreak or a Medium blog might do, is not the same as piracy itself. The former is journalism, protected by free speech; the latter is not.
Sure. I thought you were talking about third party apps, since your second paragraph was about third party apps... A pirated official app is piracy itself. A third party app is not piracy.