I quote Mark 12:15.
> But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.
This is pretty much the reason I don't pirate.
I wasn't a Christian before. I first thought "if everyone else pays, why should I get it for free?". But eventually I came to question the concept of personal sharing of media being controlled by the state, and just gave in to 'piracy' (a silly name for the act). I suppose I also generally became jaded on social conscientiousness.
More recently I became a Christian and now I don't 'pirate' at all. It's because the above passage in my opinion can be applied to media (although it's not literally what was said, I think the rationale still works): most of the people who make such media don't approve of me 'pirating'. Therefore if I engage in it, which I actually have a choice about, rather than with the currency which frankly is mandatory for most people, then surely I owe them their price. And if I don't have a way to pay for it then I don't have any more right to it.
Respectfully, you act as if your hand is forced here, but you don't actually need to consume the media, you just want to.