It's nice to see you know nothing about the issues.
No one has been prosecuted for buying a bootleg DVD. No one has been prosecuted for downloading. However, people have been prosecuted for selling bootlegs and making copyrighted material available. There's a huge difference.
Besides, in the countries they buy this stuff in, their copyright laws only apply to works made inside that country. Essentially, the material they have was legally bought.

Whoa, so those soldiers have time to play pirated games after throwing puppies off cliffs and killing/raping children?...

I feel compelled at this point to throw this in here:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2008/20080509.jpg

They usually rape the children BEFORE they kill them. They're not animals, after all. They do have standards to maintain.

Let's get some perspective. Buying bootleg is not a criminal offense, especially if the buyer has no proof that what they're buying is bootleg, or if the country they bought it in had lax copyright laws that made those materials legal there anyway.
Let's just be happy that they're entertaining themselves at all and that bootleg DVDs are the worst we have to worry about. Once upon a time the "side benefits" of soldiery were pillage.
Please tell me you're joking...

+1 as a former soldier that served in OEF and OIF 1 and 2 I agree that while the USA (America, Fuck Yeah!!!) used some pretty underhanded methods to gain a permanent mid east presence let's not make statements to the effect of "all the soldiers raping and killing children have time to play games, WTF"
besides when you get shot at by a child the least you can do is rape them before you kill them
that was a tasteless joke now.

heh maybe I haven't been around these boards, but I swear this is the first discussion i've seen that have posts with negative points...
I think the raping/puppy thing was sarcasm. ..I think :p
Correct me if i'm wrong

You haven't seen many of my posts have you?
I am the user with both the highest rating and the most -1'd posts.

nah I generally don't get involved in passionate bulletin board debates ;)
i've been there, done that, threw away the shirt. I just like games, heh.

I enjoy it, it's fun.
Then again, it's not necessarily the fighting I like to do, but perhaps the thinking, and getting other people to think as well, whether for or against my cause.

Let's get somethings clear:
1) It is illegal in these United States if you buy illegal software, videos, etc. You are as guilty (if not more) than the person who made the bootleg in the first place.
2) Ignorance does not fly one bit in the court of law. In other words, no such thing as "I didn't know...".
3) Even if a country's laws are not enforced regularly and consistently does not make them invalid or the crimes not crimes.
You may wonder where I get these facts from, I have taken several law classes: specifically criminal justice and business law.

If your wireless network is not secured the government says that you basically are agreeing to all and any activity on your network, illegal or not, with or without your prior knowledge (meaning, if you leave your front door open you're responsible for all that goes on in it, and if anything is stolen, it's your own fault). Sharing copyrighted material (not downloading it, generally) is illegal.

Yes, sharing is fine as it is accepted under the Fair Use Act.
Unfortunately, the scope of the sharing falls outside of the Fair Use Act's intended audience. If you share the material with a few buddies and your family, that's fine. Sharing it with the internet community would still fall into at least the gray area surrounding piracy.
As for your other two supporting points, both are true. I remember doing research on unsecured wireless networks, the number of zombie PCs on some of those networks are shocking. That falls into lack of knowledge, but is not ignorance per say since not everyone is computer literate in this world.
Leaving your front door open is a problem and the owner of the building/property is ultimately responsible, but if the door was unlocked and closed, that's a different argument, since we'd have to taken into account the trespassing of property, the intentions of the trespasser, and the reasons for the unlocked door.

Ah, the policy I described as far as sharing copyrighted material goes, is as outlined by an ISP (won't say which one) that I work for. So it may not be infact true, but it holds true for their customers. heh.
But also, what I'm talking about is only something that a third party (like the ESA) would take notice of.

And you're still going back to the "they have to catch me first" thing. That only works until you're caught. And it doesn't have to some federal/municipal authority. It could easily be one of your co-workers who reports you or even the company cracking down on their employees.
(Yes, I know I'm stating the obvious.)
I don't have a clue which ISP you may work for, but like other bigger businesses, they tend to follow in Microsoft's footsteps: "can't touch me". Although you may work for the company, I do wonder if your employment contract also stipulates that you are also a "customer" (if you have their service and use it at home).
As it usually goes at work, when you're on the job most co-workers and bosses will overlook such things (since they probably do it themselves), but it's not something I would do at work if I had your job. Just gives the ones above me a reason to fire me if something big came down the pipe.
I haven't heard of any ESA cases making it to the news. Have they actually gone after the avererage Joe and Jane like the RIAA?
(Okay, last edit for me in this post...been 8 already.)
It's ironic how several are sort of leaning towards the defense of piracy, but the title of this thread is "piracy". The word itself already has a negative connotation (as in pirates). I wonder if law-abiding citizens of the past defending the actions of pirates in the olden days...