Well yes if we all ignore the grey areas it is just going to be an exercise in two sides posturing across the great divide of practical reality.

Didn't the vinyl (and later cd) bootleg industry exist to becasue of additional fan demand? No one bought boots instead of legit recordings. You either bought just the legit albums or, if you knew where to get them, you bought both. Right?

Meanwhile along side that there was the pirate industry where knock-offs of legit products were sold in lieu of the real thing.

Setting aside the issue of whether an artist has the right to control people's access to warts-and-all material, there is a huge difference between say the torrents of live shows, studio outtakes and deleted material and the naked sharing of records that are readily commercially available. The former belongs in the realm of the old style bootlegger and the other is a digital ram-raid. If the music is available for sale there is absolutely no cultural, social, economic or political argument for sharing it in this way unless the rights owners or artist (if different) give their explicit permission.

I never bought the home taping is killing music argument but there is a difference surely between someone taking an album that they have purchased and copying it for a friend or including a track or two on a mix tape and the same person taking the same recording and sharing it with everyone on the planet who can be assed to click "save as"?

At least with Torrent sites you do get some measurable sense of responsibility among a closed community of member collectors. The wider world of illegal downloading is more like someone repeatedly driving a 4 x 4 into the window of HMV and saying "take what you like" .

It's not really worth it, but i could, given the time, Knock these sorts of straw-man comparisons DOWN all day long.
And not because i take an exceptional umbrage towards a particular member of this site.
Certainly, for me at least, It's a stunner to find myself so isolated on this side of the arguement here. I 've posted on and off for about 2 years here. Lurked about 5 more years than that.
To the best of my recollection, it's only been me or Ian thats taken any stand at all against the issue of what i personally will continue to call 'ILLEGAL DOWN-LOADING'.
If people want to put a shine on a turd, by calling it 'FILE-SHARING' {has such a friendly lilt when you call it "SHARING"}..... Then that is one trend that i won't be jumping on.

About your town/Bootleg per person comparison....
What was it you said about THINKING?
I don't know about your particular social circle.....but mine is fairly assorted. And i can tell you for a fact, NO one that i know in my radius has anything approaching my collection. Much less BOOT LEG L.p.'s.
In fact, i gave up YEARS ago, expecting or reacting with MOCK shock and horror that people didn't know who the fuck JULIAN COPE was....or any of Dozens others bands/artists that appeal to me.
But if it gives you comfort to think that everyone in the USA has 10 bootleg LP's {or More} in there stash.....more power to you.
I'd personally estimate more like about 2 % or less of our population.
But even if you are correct, and your not,
You truly are being completely dis-honest to say that the average person who ILLEGALLY downloads copy righted media......
Has got typically less than 100's of albums that way. Perhaps 1000's.
How i am on the wrong side of this issue, is astonishing.