For example, there used to be a substantial cost to stamp, package, ship, and sell a CD at retail. However, we now have limitless digital copies that are “good enough” quality for the masses available off iTunes; scarcity isn’t the issue, but what people value things at. Similarly, a boxed copy of software can be distributed online with all the data on the disc, the CD keys, and the manuals for quite a bit less than the retail (but sometimes costs more — an aberration I don’t entirely get).

That said, I still stay away from torrents. There’s no way downloading stuff off of a sketchy website can be a good idea in the long run.