You just gotta love the rationale and justifications some folks are using to excuse/allow themselves to perform pure *theft*....but I bet if someone stole their car or bike out of their driveway ('cuz, hey, the thief needed it and couldn't afford to buy it)...those same people would be screaming and dialing 911!!!
But this is all on par with the whole "Napster" mentality...
"It's just files, it's not like I'm stealing anything real."...or some similarly convoluted viewpoint.
I'm sure we've all "lifted" something in our misguided youth...not even considering we were stealing...and if we didn't get caught, we forgot about it or realized that we got lucky that time and learned our lesson...but folks shouldn't be too quick to openly admit on an Internet forum that they stole "XYZ"....'cuz you never know...and yeah, what you are doing is illegal and if caught, you could be prosecuted.
Certainly don't beat your chest like you've gotten away with it...just STFU about it, and go use what you already have, and next time buy what you need from a legit source, 'cuz the people who write the programs you are stealing all need to make a living too...they have jobs, families...etc. It's not just some nameless "company" with millions $$$. Most often, these software companies are smaller businesses with a handful or two of guys trying to make a living by writing code for great products that you are stealing....think about it.
True story...
I do IT work at my day gig, and some of it involves supporting a large theater that puts on all kinds of shows. There was a new lighting guy that got hired, and he and some of the other people who worked backstage happened to be musicians.
So one day I'm doing some IT stuff for them and he starts talking about audio apps, and then goes on to open a bag and show me all the CDs of the ones he got online. He had a whole bunch of top-level DAW apps and whatnot...and when he saw my eyes light up, he starts telling me how he got them for like $25 each.
I told him those were all cracked copies, as those apps cost hundreds $$$ each.
He tries to explain to me he got them from a "legit" website.
Again I told him it was bogus, and I knew all those apps and what they really cost.
Anyway...I tell him not to attempt to install them on any work computer, because they are cracked, and not to even ever bring them in to work again.
A few days later the idiot installed one on his work computer anyway to show it to the other guys.
It was only a matter of a couple of days before the network guys ran their usual security scans, and next thing I'm getting a phone call telling me one of our networked computers had cracked software,
and the lighting guy is standing talking to security.
He got off with a warning (I think the took all the cracked stuff he had on him at work), I had to wipe his system clean, but he had no computer for a week as punishment.
He ended up leaving that job not too long after that....
Moral of the story is...
Cracked software CAN be picked up on scans. Now, it may not be an issue for home use, as your ISP is most likely not going to be running those types of scans...but again, it's illegal, and if you get caught, you can get prosecuted.
OK....end of my CYA rant.
As the saying goes..."a word to the wise is sufficient".