[Nyororin]

For some reason, I get the feeling that people`s assumption of what would be considered "sampling" is very far from what sampling really is.

Sampling is taking a small bite and making a choice. You don`t go into a restaurant, eat all but the dessert, then say "I don`t like the end of this course. Never mind, I`m not going to pay."
That`s not a sample, that`s flat out thievery.

"I watched most of the series but got bored..." just makes me shake my head - clearly, it was good enough to compel you to watch as much of it as you did. There is MORE than enough information about different series out there that I really don`t get how people can say the only way to tell if something is good is by watching it illegally. If you are online to download, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from checking out review sites, story summaries, etc. And if something looks good but isn`t yet licensed/released, the chances of it being released are going to go up a lot if there are people out there expressing interest in BUYING it.

If you read a review/summary and it looks like it is going to suck, then don`t bother with it. If you HAVE to see it to believe it, check out a bit that doesn`t contain most of the series - say, some clips or at the most the first episode.

But I`m willing to bet that for most people it`s the appeal of getting something for nothing...