I have purchased 8-track tapes, tape cassettes, vinyl records and CDs of the exact same Beatles album. I have come to the conclusion that the container is what is being sold, not the data (songs) on it. If I was buying the "song" from the record label, I would be able to trade in my 8-Track of "Abbey Road" for a nice new iTunes download of the album. Obviously, I can't do this. The package is what matters, not the data (song) file. The data contained on all of these obsolete formats is thrown out as soon as a new technology comes up with a new form of delivery.
IP supporters should ask themselves this:
After you buy a bunch of MP3s, what happens when that data (song) file is made obsolete by a better sounding, smaller file format. What happens if I buy my songs from iTunes, Amazon or Zune, when those services are replaced by more innovative businesses? If you do not know the answer already, you should. If the format is made obsolete, the previously purchased songs will have to be repurchased again in whatever format or service gets pushed on us.
I agree that if a person wants a hard copy of a 180 gram collector's edition vinyl album/CD of the latest supergroups new album, they should buy it. However, people passing around data that they harvested from their soon to be useless and obsolete compact discs (ripped with their equipment and power) is not the same thing as theft.
If you still don't get it, try this:
Would the pro IP people consider this theft?
Imagine that my friend and I know how to sew clothing. We both buy a fancy dress, take it apart (rip it), make a paper pattern and duplicate it. Then we trade it with each other. My friend gets a dress that she did not buy and so do I. Have we stolen the clothing? Do we owe the dress designer money?
I think not.
I doubt that I am the only person that has purchased the same album in multiple formats. Am I?