Simple-it's because we occasionally encounter illegal software copies and we have a responsibility for reminding the RIT community that ownership of intellectual property such as software must be respected. Usually, when we confront people with the notion that maybe they shouldn't be doing this, they rationalize such copying with one or more of the following arguments. I'm allowed to make a backup in case something happens to it, so it must be okay to use it on another machine. Most software is sold with the stipulation that you can do this, but a backup copy is exactly that-a backup.
Vendors recommend that the copy be used for installation.
The original should be safely locked away. If you then do anything other than store the copy for safekeeping, it would be very reasonable to conclude that you made the copy simply to avoid paying for a second license. I didn't copy it-a friend gave it to me. Technically, you're right. You would not be guilty of illegally copying software in this case, although your friend would.