Andrew

It's never really been a piracy issue. It's a service issue. Some anime is available only on disks costing literally $200 for half the episides. Or free with piracy. Next to watch the different shows I need 5 logins, all with different fees.

A much kept secret by the industry is that piracy boost sales. Some things can't be bought. Pirate an album and like the band? It actually means that person is more likely to buy their albums, their merchandise, even concert tickets.

So in the end I can literally pay hundreds or even thousands a year for anime, or just a single site or two for all I need.

If all the piracy sites went offline it wouldn't make all those people go to paid sites. Most will simply do without, never get an attraction to the series, and actually cause a decline in sales.