Some people claim that because the main entities that will supposedly be harmed from making file swapping legal are media conglumerates, and to a lesser extent best-selling artists who are very rich, and those who would benefit are the poor everyday people, then this is a case of "stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.", which is still stealing.
One thing that has to be understood about the Robin Hood myth is that Robin Hood supposedly stole from the exploiters and gave to the exploited. Secondly, it's not really true in this case.
Copying a copyrighted work is not stealing, because the money that the author can charge for its commercial copying is due to copyright law - a civil (not criminal) contract between the State and the artists, in order to encourage original creation. However, breaking this contract is not stealing.
It should be understood that record labels and other distributors of entertainment and non-technical media should either adapt to the new situation where Internet users can download such files for free and enjoy them, and to a greater extent contribute such media on their own, without much help from them, or simply perish as a no longer necessary establishment, that just gets in the way.
This is not about stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. This is about cutting down the middle man.