Robin Hood in the internet wood

The creation of the internet was based on the idea of equality and democracy. That's why some people want to defend those notions by illegal ways.

Indeed rippers define themselves as "Robin Hood" because they steal from rich and powerful people (in the internet world : Microsoft, the musical and cinematographic industry) in order to give to poor ones.
The equality and the idea of sharing things (videos, audios...) with FlickR, Youtube and Emule for example are the main theme in a hacker's mouth.

But what is equality ? Is theft a defense of equality ?