P2P - fun for friends or a threat to the economy?

Today began in darkness...just as I was addicted, quite seriously, to Bunko (the infamous PublicMM Tracker) last year when it was mercilessly removed from my life right before Christmas, now my favorite BT site has been shut down for reasons (apparently legal) that are unknown to me right now.

I won't disclose the name of the site, yet...friends of mine run it and I'm not sure what kind of trouble they are in, so I'll hold off for now. While Bunko went down for unknown reasons also (it may have been more technical than legal), this latest occurence has not only found me in a mess, withdrawal-wise, but a bit kreeped out, as I usually get when trackers are forced out and the RIAA sues another bunch of people...

My stand on file-sharing has always been a fundamental one:

1. When I was a kid, we used to tape our records and swap them...this way, we knew what we wanted when we went record shopping, and what to avoid. The technology of the day supported this practice, and even though some folks in the record industry tried to tell us that "home taping is killing the record industry" it didn't happen...record industry continued to grow.
2. When I was in college, I began to rely on tape-trading heavily (thanks to you, Mark~!) in the same manner...lots of stuff could be yours only through active trading..."your list gets mine"...again, the technology supported this practice, and it brought a small, grass-roots music movement from its infancy into a mega-corporate marketing machine...I'm talking primarily about Punk and Metal.
3. Now, with file sharing, you have a combination of both aspects...the opportunity to sample before you buy, and the interaction with friends who share your passion for whatever type of music you are obsessed with. Moreso now, the technology supports this practice, and is even driven by it...where would file compression, high-speed internet, and digital media be without the push that file-sharing has provided to drive it to its current state?

What I'm ultimately having trouble understanding is why did Bunko go down (Japanese music only) and my current fave site (underground music), when there is only 'sector-specific' music involved, that by and large doesn't affect the corporate music industry at all...the RIAA could care less about Japanese music or D.I.Y. hardcore demos or German power metal...all completely out of its jurisdiction...

Whereas other trackers and BT sites that offer Eninem and Jessica Simpson by the handful continue to operate...on that account, it's just not fair...

Downhill Battle has always been a source for solace in times like these, and I visited their site during my break again today...I particularly appreciate Steve Albini's diatribe on the truth about the RIAA's claims that file-sharing denies artists their royalties...don't let the media fool you, these guys don't get the money they should from the recording industry, and have to tour and live like dogs to get the money they've got. The economy is what's killing the music industry, that and the crap that comes out anymore...