I've been sailing the high seas, or at least skirting the shores, since the late 1980s when my classmates and I were swapping BBC Micro software on 5¼" disks! Moved onto PC in 1990 and carried on. I even cracked a few games back in the day :-)
These days I don't pirate so much, and I have quite a collection of legitimate music and software.
However, in the UK at least, the ISPs are required to log your activity and pass on to the relevant authorities if requested. Best to use an approved VPN to be sure.