Getting past the protection on programs is only the first step. The next problem is the distribution. As stated earlier, many demonstration versions of software are available on corporate websites. This alleviates some of the stress of pirating, I'm sure. But the trouble comes when you need to pirate something rather large, say for example an office suite.
Some pirates have servers, some just use free internet hosting.
In either case, they are limited by both bandwidth and space constraints. Generally there is an inverse relationship between the two factors. Free internet hosting has a great deal of bandwidth at your disposal, but the pirate is generally limited by the amount of space in which he can put files. This causes him to make multiple accounts under pseudonyms to store all the files. IRC channels and Usenet are often posted with links to the locations of the files, as are the pirates websites.