The important difference here is that your examples involve something physical; in both, he has eaten some food that can thus no longer be given to anyone else.

The important difference here is that your examples involve something physical; in both, he has eaten some food that can thus no longer be given to anyone else. Whereas, if he downloads a copy of an eBook, the publisher can still sell copies to just as many people; he has not removed any finite resource from the system. I'm still not sure it's justifiable (though I'm leaning slightly towards it being so), but it certainly isn't comparable to what you're saying it is.