Nowadays it is very difficult to explain what theft means exactly. For example, in some countries many actions are not considered bad, such as watching movies on the internet without paying. I think theft has only one meaning and anything outside of its meaning is not theft.
Different countries prescribe different penalties for theft. For example in Saudi Arabia cutting a hand off is the penalty for theft but in UK it depends on the kind of theft. The semtemce sentence may be jail or community service or a number of other things.