Well, remember that newsgroups came first, when the Internet was not quite so user-friendly. There was a steeper learning curve. It can be well worth the effort, as there's generally a greater variety of stuff available - at least until someone puts it on Bit-torrent. One thing's for sure, the download speed is solely dependant on your connection, not on how many points you've earned or what percentage you've uploaded, etc. It's also far more anonymous than any peer-network. You are far less likely to get caught downloading warez or porn. This is why they continue to thrive to this day.