Piracy is a strange beast, but it is definitely NOT theft.
If I download a song - it does not directly negatively impact the artist. They aren't out anything.
The indirect impact on the artist is another matter. They are potentially out of a sale that could have otherwise happened without the piracy. However, they are also potentially gaining a sale from a user who would have not normally purchased their music, but downloaded and decided to buy. Just like listening to a song on the radio isn't theft - yet if you are only listening to the radio and not buying music are you stealing?
It most certainly should not carry harsher penalties than physical theft. Downloading a song should not result in a 1000$ penalty while a physical theft of a CD results in a lesser penalty.
"However, they are also potentially gaining a sale from a user who would have not normally purchased their music, but downloaded and decided to buy."
The analogy breaks down because music and other forms of media are just pure information, so there is no reason to buy it if you already downloaded it, especially as the friction of obtaining an illegal copy is reduced to zero.
Why? Because I found it was a useful book and wanted to support the author and own a physical copy. I also would have never purchased the book if I hadn't been able to go through it first online.
I realize that I wasn't pirating - but the analogy doesn't break down in the manner you suggest.
Buying a physical copy of a book is a little different, as it does offer some additional benefit (in terms of portability, different medium, whatever). However, let's say that your argument is that some people will like the author and "buy" a copy of the music they already have, even though that copy offers zero additional benefit to the consumer.
Buying a physical copy of music in the form of a CD confers addition benefits over a downloaded MP3 as well, one of which is the higher quality of uncompressed 16 bit audio (or better, if SACD or DVD-Audio versions are available).
You can get flac rips at private music trackers like waffles. The library is comparable to if not better than itunes. There are some 24 bit rips out there but not very many.
If I download a song - it does not directly negatively impact the artist. They aren't out anything.
The indirect impact on the artist is another matter. They are potentially out of a sale that could have otherwise happened without the piracy. However, they are also potentially gaining a sale from a user who would have not normally purchased their music, but downloaded and decided to buy. Just like listening to a song on the radio isn't theft - yet if you are only listening to the radio and not buying music are you stealing?
It most certainly should not carry harsher penalties than physical theft. Downloading a song should not result in a 1000$ penalty while a physical theft of a CD results in a lesser penalty.