coming from someone who lives in Mexico,
TPB helped me (and my career surprisingly) in unorthodox ways....
Yes, it's true TPB is a very common source for your pirated games, movies, pr0n etc... but coming from Mexico most of the stuff you'd genuinely like to
obtain through legitimate means is quite scare due to such content simply not being available over here, this is a double edged blade.
take Netflix as an example, over North America Netflix hosts entire series and movies with little to no restraints, over here you're lucky if you
find the same exact series complete (most have either seasons 1-2 barely complete or simply season 1), also to add insult to injury the movie
catalog is heavily restricted as well (apparently Netflix Mex, does not add a series or movie if it doesn't have a spanish dub or sub at least)
I know some of you might say.... why not use a proxy? indeed I could have, but when my relatives eventually want to do this on their own
or the proxy is an overall slowdown, there were alternate less stressful methods, TPB was one of them, simply because chances are what you
were seeking was not available for Netflix (heck Naruto fans in Mexico are still bitching about how shippuden is still not available over here)
afaik most people in Mexico resort to Netflix because as far as they know it's the only source of their movies, and the few people that decided to
seek content not found in netflix decided to try their luck at TPB, heck I've resorted to TPB myself for Linux isos more than movies itself
simply because it was easier and usually came with some form instructions, same with Maya 2015,
long story short, yes while it was used for piracy it was also used for access to content that might have been restricted elsewhere.
either way, afaik TPB will re surge, somewhere someday, like the old saying says.... keep circulating the tapes.