Everyone is arguing about whether piracy is good or bad, but that’s not what this case is about. It’s about whether the rules apply equally. A student who torrents a textbook risks a lawsuit. Meta, reportedly, torrented hundreds of thousands of books, had an employee delete his copy “due to all this litigation,” and is now arguing over which server logs it has to hand over. They could have licensed these books. The likely reason they didn’t is that the cost of getting caught is lower than the licensing fee. A court has already called the training fair use, but how the books were acquired is a separate question, and that’s where this should be decided. If an individual did this at scale, no one would call it a gray area.

I agree, and also

> A court has already called the training fair use

isn't dispositive. Another court, a less stupid or corrupt one, could decide differently. SCOTUS could decide differently.

But using illegally obtained material as the foundation of your business and destroying it for fear of litigation, both of those things are clearly criminal.

I can torrent as much crap as I want and nothing will ever happen to me. (Canada)

Most people can. But you can be sued in Canada just like anywhere else; it isn't legal. According to a search, the damages per offense may be capped at $5K CAD, though, which is great compared to the US.

If you turn around and make a billion dollars a year off the stuff you torrented I’m sure something will happen to you.

Correct, rules for them not for us.

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Lose your ISP and be fined in BC.