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You're missing one of the key points to this whole issue- that the only people actually stopped by DRM are honest users trying to do such legal things as make a backup copy in case their reader gets stolen or destroyed. Theft will still happen regardless of how tight a security you put on an ebook, but making a backup copy for your own personal use is definitely not theft.
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Theoretically, in good faith, one of those honest users could be so enthralled with a book that they could give a copy to a friend or two, who in turn, being equally impressed could give a copy to another friend or two ad infinitum.
After all libraries lend books and second hand bookstores distribute them so what, in the mind of an innocent user could be wrong with that.
Big hole in authors pocket where money has fallen through.
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If on the other hand I pirate something you have the rights to, I may have stolen that particular royalty payment, but you still own the rights to your work. And because I'm an honest pirate, if you tell me a way to pay you directly, that will guarantee that you get all the money rather than the majority of it going to publishers, ad agencies and other middle men, then I'll pay you. But if most of my payment ends up going to someone other than the person who created the book/song/movie/game, then there's something wrong with that as well.
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Of course sending money to an author with the intent of cutting out the middleman is far worse than piracy as this is setting up a conspiracy to defraud and enticing the author to enter this conspiracy is certainly immoral and I am sure illegal.
Although the author can send the proper share to the proper people if he knows who they are (many authors have more than one publisher) it is like stealing a quart of milk from the 7-11 and sending a couple of bucks to a farmer or stealing a TV and sending the money to the manufacturer. And I bet dollars to donuts that most pirates would not send the full retail price, but just some made up amount that made them feel better about pirating.
Helen