I'm going to try to be as honest as I can.
I download loads of stuffs (even though i'm noob in here) including movies, games, softwares, etc. But when I download pirated materials, I try to avoid one kind of files: a file made from a developer that are desperate. I do not care about Microsoft, Apple, big hollywood movie makers, etc (sry apple). They are pretty stable companies and they probably don't care about a single piracy (maybe they do but i don't care lol). Unlike them, small developers are pretty desperate. They need every single pennies and it would be too mean to just pirate. I try not to pirate apps that are made from small indie devs, unless I'm temporarily trying that file for whatever reason. For example, I pirated Minecraft s long time ago because I wanted to try out and there was no trial version, and then I bought it legitimately after a week or so because it was so fun and they were indies. Well, now that they are making thousands of dollars due to their popularity, I don't really think buying Minecraft now is not really necessary. But I do feel proud that I probably helped Minecraft development and this makes me happy. When I pirate iPhone/iPad apps, I mostly follow this:

if the developer(s) are registered as a person not a company and they did not block IAP Cracker or doesn't have In app purchase -> don't pirate

if the developers are registered as a big stable company and they made good amount of money -> PIRATE

if the developers overpriced the app or put too much in app purchases -> PIRATE



What is YOUR policy for piracy?

not true ,Darius Trolls for free

Piracy IS illegal, none of that sharing bullshit. Its free entertainment, very low chance of getting caught, save thousands of dollars a year, so easy to do (click of a button). And the film industry stopped caring about it a long time ago regardless of their constant whining
Why we do it?
Because its out there, available to anyone, everyone is doing it and theres nothing stopping you

Pirates don't start at torrents. it's starts with the scene group. If your a first time uploader of a cracked item then scene it and let every other vulture upload your glory.
To me there is no such thing as a pirate. any publicity is good publicity where you the uploader don't get paid for it.
seriously ask yourself this: would of you bought the product anyway?
Have you ever bought a product after you downloaded it from a torrent/scene site?
I bet most of you would fall into the first question and then some of you into the second and the third and last question.
Did you even know 'that' existed before you downloaded it. well if you answered yes to that. it falls into the free publicity.
There are no pirates just unpaid promoters. Boom!

Just want to say that i agree with your remark about purchasing software. My wife is a total addict of the Hidden Object games. She downloads them, plays them for a while, never finishing them,and then buys them from the company that produces them, BigFish, Allsmart etc.