My thoughts:
I don't illegally download anything. I have a personal conviction that pirating is stealing--whatever it is. From Windows to a song, it's wrong. Have I always been perfect? No. Every once in a while I'll scan through my iTunes library and see something that I borrowed from a friend but forgot to delete--it's a good reminder to keep vigilant.
Another thought. Consider Adobe CS. Why do you think that it costs so much? Yes, it's true. People pirate it because it is so expensive, and then try and explain it away, saying that if Adobe didn't charge so much they would buy it. And, I can imagine, there are people out there that would, however, I have reason to believe that it's not a problem of numbers, but rather concept.
People that pirate are their own problem--to a certain extent, the reason certain software or music costs so much is that people pirate it. In reality, when you pirate, you are forcing the price to go up--companies have to make money, and in order to do that, they need to sell their product. It would be nice if everyone paid--then the per item cost would be lower. However, those who illegally download are forcing the people who legally purchase content to pay for their share as well.