[evanny]

yes. there are specialized sites, and so does everything else has. and still anime is small part of illegal downloads overall.
for anime "average contemporary anime licensing starts at around $20,000 per episode and can go as high as $80,000 per episode" not to mention cost of dubbing ....i say - seeing how money isn't as big as for movies, it is quite a lot.

and if they feel like illegal downloading is pushing them down then it is simply because the fan base itself is small. every product suffers from downloads on the internet - so...do what others do and make it more popular so you can get by.

i think its possible that without illegal downloads, anime, manga in western countries could suffer even more. anime dvds are a risky thing to invest your money compared to movies/music since they very often can disappoint and you can't judge anime sieries by trailers like movies, however lot of people after seeing it on the web buy and even spread the word.