I know were not supposed to 'steal' new albums off the internet, but does anyone know how this actually works?

I get my stuff off torrent sites, invariably new records, often 20 a week, which is all stuff that I otherwise wouldn't listen to. If i lost this then I'd be very sad, because I can't really afford to buy CDs. But could I still download live shows? cos that might make up for it

Is it just a cap/tax on the amount of data that you download, no matter what it is? or do they somehow have a way of knowing what you are downloading?

Is there a copyright law on a live show? Can i get punished for downloading them? And what are the chances of actually getting caught downloading music? Cos i dont ever plan to stop