Normally, discussions about semantics are indeed pointless. But this is a rare exception. The word "steal" is chosen because it carries a strong negative conno

Normally, discussions about semantics are indeed pointless. But this is a rare exception. The word "steal" is chosen because it carries a strong negative connotation. It is an example of loaded language (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaded_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaded_language). Regardless of whether it's ethical to copy whatever files in whatever situation being discussed, the term "steal" is intended to sidestep that question and make it feel unethical by drawing an equivalence between it and something most people agree is unethical. It's a slightly underhanded rhetorical technique, so it's reasonable to put the word "steal" in quotation marks to call attention to it.