Comment by milesvp

I think the reaction had more to do with the intended negative connotations of a word being perpetuated by people trying to justify their existence.

I'd prefer we call them huggers, not pirates, and that they are hugging content rather than pirating content.

You'll notice that if the word has positive connotations, then if you commission a study on the effects of hugging on the music industry, you'd probably be expecting to finding positive net benefits to the activity.