The law is very clear on this matter and so is the morality.
Actually, the morality ISN'T very clear on the subject. Morality is a very personal thing.
MY morality says that if it's commercially available, I buy it or do without. If it becomes available after I download it, either through a re-release or remake, I buy it.
If I stumble upon a used copy of the game, or an older adaptation, I'll likely pick it up just because.
I've spoken with people that feel software costs too much and that makes them justified to steal it.
I know people who won't touch remakes, regardless of how faithful it is.
Obviously your morality says that it's always wrong.
But that's just yours. And I've presented 3 alternate moralities that are every bit as clear on the subject, but come to totally diffrent conclusions.
BTW, your BMW theft analogy is flawed. My downloading of Missile Command ROM images didn't make someone else's PCB disappear. All the Missile Command boards that haven't been destroyed are still out there.
I've also bought several versions of Missile Command.
The arcade version 3 times in various retro-gaming compilations, the 2600 game once in a retro-gaming compilation, 5 times in real carts, the 5200 version 3 times in real carts, and the PC remake once.
Meaning I legally own THIRTEEN diffrent copies of the game, eleven of which were intended as faithful recreations of the arcade game, and three of which are emulations of the arcade game on a PC using actual ROM images.
And if I prefer to play it in MAME instead of Atari: 80 Classic Games, well, I think I've bought the game enough times that it doesn't matter.
But that's another story entirely.