There only needs to be a couple people knowing how to get a rip for it to end up everywhere.
If physical releases start disappearing everywhere, I can see piracy getting a significant boost. It will be the only way to "own" a movie and be sure you can still watch it whenever you want. Disney has been removing content from its service already, even some recent stuff.
I know Gabe Newell's old quote is being parroted a lot but it's relevant : "Piracy is not a pricing issue, it's a service issue". Steam may be a digital market, but it doesn't require a continued paid subscription to access stuff you've paid for, and it doesn't delist games whenever it feels like it.
FWIW, Gabe’s argument isn’t against subscriptions. The point in that quote is that legal access to content curbs piracy. Piracy will of course always exist, but there’s also customers that are willing to pay if is convenient and accessible.
it doesn't delist games whenever it feels like it.
You're still trusting a company to have your game library available in the future. Gaben will die at some point, someone will take over for him, we don't know what will happen with Valve in 10, 20 or 30 years...
Why? Unless it's DRM free and you've got a copy downloaded then your shit can be wiped out whenever they feel like it and it's not as if accounts have never been banned from the platform, cutting people from thousands of dollars worth of stuff...
Its trivially more difficult to do webrips. It will likely have the opposite effect of what you're thinking of, some people that would buy blurays will just pirate now.
I can't comment how harder or easier it is, but all shows and movies released on any streaming service are available within hours. So I'm guessing it's not that hard.