I should add that I used to be a rather avid games pirate, back in the Amiga days and early PC. In fact I cracked several games myself, but things were a lot easier pre-internet! I'd say until the age of maybe 22 I was still pirating things, although a lot less than the old days as I now had a proper job etc.
What changed it for me was, effectively, laziness. Why mess around with cracks and patches etc. when steam could do it all for you? Don't get me wrong, I hated steam in its infancy, but now I simply wont buy a game unless it is on steam. Knowing I can wipe my PC and simply log into steam and get all my games back is far more beneficial than saving a few quid. Most games have demos now, and as I play more indie titles than anything else anyway the prices are very reasonable. I buy nearly every humble bundle, even if I'm not sure I'll play them, simply because its worth $5 to encourage these developers to make more games that I might play. This is actually reverse piracy, I am paying for games I wont play!
My main piracy nowadays is TV episodes, again through laziness. I can't be bothered to set the tivo to record something when I can download it easier and then watch it on any device I choose. The idea of schedules is a joke, just give me what I want when I say so. When a system comes about that is easier than piracy yet still delivers the goods then TV piracy will also fall, but rights are a complicated issue and nobody wants to give up on the archaic system they currently use because they are scared their revenues will fall.