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Calling it theft is a distortion of the argument used cynically to exaggerate the financial impact and call for more draconian penalties.
The fact is, most people getting the free book are only getting it because it is free. They would never have paid for it, and are not a lost sale. They might never even look at it. The author has lost absolutely nothing.
Some people will be specifically seeking to avoid paying for that book, and yes, they are doing wrong. They still have the legitimate options of using a library or simply not reading it, as well as actually paying for the book.
Calling it theft is a bit like calling it murder. It is trying to associate one crime with another, to get the moral connotations of the first to apply to the second. It's dishonest and unhelpful.
I accidentally committed copyright arson myself the other day. I downloaded a free audiobook from Librivox which I then discovered was still in copyright (I think) in the UK (Whose Body by Dorothy L. Sayers). I'm now wondering whether I might as well go ahead and listen to it if I've already committed the crime.
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