@Skrist Exactly, I think it's a good thing when all's said and done. Otherwise I wouldn't persist in scanlating. Still, I can understand why many mangaka (and other creators) are wary of piracy. It's hard to tell how many sales are due to increased exposure and whatnot.
As far as Crunchyroll goes, congratulations to them for their success and making anime more accessible via legitimate methods. But to tell the truth, I still hold a major grudge against them. I was one of the people who hated the way they were profiting, not only off of other people's IP (the anime themselves), but also off of the work of the fansubbers who didn't want their work used for the profit of people other than the original creators/rights-holders. The ethics there were... not the best, to put it lightly. Or so I felt (and still feel, actually). And then for that kind of behavior to be rewarded-- it made me sick to my stomach. I don't think their success will ever stop turning my stomach either. But they're successful regardless, and at this point they have, I guess, possibly done more good then bad. At any rate, I think there's only about one way I could begin to forgive them for their past: if they use their power to make animators' wages livable or higher, now that they're funding anime originals (and presumably have influence overall).
Sorry for that tirade, I know most people probably don't give a scheisse. But I agree regarding your points on piracy for the most part.
Edit: I should note I'm not against donations or anything like that. I may open donations up someday too. What I am against is charging subs for access and other very commercial methods of making money, which is what CR was doing even back then, iirc.