Somebody get that judge a dictionary

What DOD was doing was "Copyright Infringement"

It is against the law in much of the world, and perpetrators should be punished - but it's not theft.

Theft is when you deprive someone of something that they own - you take their money, their iPod, phone, whatever.

After the theft, they dont have it anymore.

"Copyright Theft" would require that somebody steal the copyright itself - in other words, they manage to get the copyright assigned to themselves rather than the original owner without paying for it.

Certain companies appear to think that is normal business practice, and there have only ever been private civil cases brought when this happens - one party sues the other.

The US Government have never got involved.

This implies that Copyright Theft is in fact a legal and common business practice that is endorsed by the US Government (and many others)