"As far as I am aware, in US law, there is no subject code specifically for and simply for possessing/receiving pirated material"
You have to look at the case law.
This article on contributory infringement seems relevant and states:
"One who knowingly induces, causes or materially contributes to copyright infringement, by another but who has not committed or participated in the infringing acts themselves, may be held liable as a contributory infringer if they had knowledge, or reason to know, of the infringement. See, e.g., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 545 U.S. 913 (2005); Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (1984)."
"This is why, during the MPAA/RIAA war against p2p, they specifically targeted the fact that all users were mesh sharing files."
They probably did that because they wanted to make an example of someone, so they went with whoever would be easiest to win a large judgement against. If someone merely downloaded a copy, the judgment against them would be smaller.
I certainly don't see how someone downloading pirated content isn't a contributory infringer at the very least.
You have to look at the case law.
This article on contributory infringement seems relevant and states:
"One who knowingly induces, causes or materially contributes to copyright infringement, by another but who has not committed or participated in the infringing acts themselves, may be held liable as a contributory infringer if they had knowledge, or reason to know, of the infringement. See, e.g., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 545 U.S. 913 (2005); Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (1984)."
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/contributory_infringement#:~....
"This is why, during the MPAA/RIAA war against p2p, they specifically targeted the fact that all users were mesh sharing files."
They probably did that because they wanted to make an example of someone, so they went with whoever would be easiest to win a large judgement against. If someone merely downloaded a copy, the judgment against them would be smaller.
I certainly don't see how someone downloading pirated content isn't a contributory infringer at the very least.