Well, my comments on the subject would go in a differant direction:
#1: I don't think the porn industry is in trouble, rather it appears that one segment of the porn industry is in trouble, because it's talking about stuff moving online. There is a signifigant differance here.
#2: I am not entirely sure that the stigma against porn is in any way disappearing, as you can see in the persecution of video games for sexual content, and lulz generated by say Bioware being afraid to even show breasts during Sex Scenes in "Dragon Age: Origins".
Moving online however does remove a lot of the stigma for the people involved, not only does it make them a bit harder to recognize (you don't have pictures of the people stuck on DVD covers, and really only see them while actually online, making them a bit less memorable I think as odd as that sounds), but tracking this stuff down is nearly impossible. If someone has an issue with an adult DVD company they can go track them down at their public studio. If someone has a problem with "Bob's Porn Site" it could be run out of a basement anywhere in the world and change ISPs frequently specifically to limit it being tracked.
#3: With all the pressure on the media right now for adult content, showing up at an Adult convention is kind of asking for trouble. I would imagine this has something to do with the turn out.
#4: There is nothing like having a "hardcopy" of any media (pun intended), but consider one of the things that fuels the industry is the fact that people rapidly get bored with seeing the same thing again and again. Very few porn movies have become "classics", most being akin to throw aways. This helped fuel the industry, but now with the abillity to get a throw away rather affordably on The Internet there is less need to buy a hardcopy, and then worry about where your going to keep it in case you have guests.
Strictly speaking like many porn fans, I'm not ashamed to say that on the occasions I consume porn (which is not as frequent as some might believe given this post) I'm mostly interested in things that I can't get IRL, aside from the sheer quality/beauty of the partner.
While there are no shortages of porn actresses out there, a lot of them wind up having a degree of standards, and doing what basically amounts to normal sex, which you can get anywhere (even if you have to pay for it). There is a market for it, but to a lot of people it gets boring.
When you look at my "kinks" for Bondage and S&M (it's the internet and I'm not as embarassed about honesty as many people) finding decent movies of that sort is actually a LOT harder than you might think (and no, I don't need searches from people "proving" otherwise, some of you probably know what I mean though). If I'm going to pay to own a porn movie forever it's going to have to be something really special.
That said, I don't even subscribe to any porn sites (believe it or not) and my interest is fairly minimal in an absolute sense (and this is not just to backtrack from statements). I do still have an opinion though.
#5: World Of Warcraft only costs $15 a month, granted being disabled I have to budget for it somewhat, but in the overall scheme of things that isn't all that expensive. Nor are other MMOs. What's more I think people exaggerate addictive behavior to a great extent when it comes to these games, and most of it comes down to people being POed at someone being busy during "prime hours" when they want someone to do things with or for them. It's powerful escapism but not the kind of physical or mental addiction someone would get from drugs despite claims by sensationalists.
I say this because I'm a fairly hardcore player (even if in something of an 'off phase') and have always found some time to play other games and do whatever. What's more EVERYONE who plays hardcore that I have met goes through burnout and can disappear for months at a time. Now granted I couldn't have maintained the gaming I tend to do nowadays before I was forced to retire, but I still spent a lot of time playing while getting the stuff I needed to get done, done for the most part. Although I *DID* endure some whining over things that weren't strictly speaking nessicary due to how I chose to spend my time.
The basic point here is that anyone interested in porn (which is pretty much the entire of gamut of humanity, including both genders even if women admit it less) is still going to consume porn even while maintaining a WoW habit.
The economy in general might be an issue though, because to be entirely honest $30 or so on a DVD or whatever that you might watch a couple of times (and maybe not in it's entirety) is not a good investment of entertainment money. I haven't followed it closely, but the costs of porn seem to have been going steadily up as people in the industry have gotten increasingly greedy. Heck, skin mags in some cases can go as much as $12.95 themselves.
I gripe at entertainment industries of all sorts for increasing prices, so they aren't alone in this criticism. I will however point out that a lot of entertainment that thought it was untouchable is in trouble.
I don't believe the Porn Industry OR the Video Game industry are really in trouble in any real sense. Heck, I'll even call them both liars about a lot of it. But notice that all of these allegedly recession proof industries are simultaneously claiming to take hits. Heck, if it IS true all it proves is that an economic slump affects everyone and nobody is safe, especially businesses that judge succees or "trouble" in terms of absolutly monsterous profits.
lol.
