> It is doubtful that hits for .onion sites are enough to encourage someone to produce CP. Download and seed more, maybe. But producing more just because someone downloads it?

Attention and popularity is one hell of a drug. If I'm running a website (about pretty much anything) and I see my views go up significantly, then that encourages me to work on the site more. And the opposite is true if no one gives a toss.

Criminals and scumbags are just as human as the rest of us, and their motivations are often the same. They want popularity, friends, money, fame and power. Even at the possible expense of getting caught doing whatever illegal activity they're doing at the time (like those kids posting pictures of them taking drugs on Facebook or psychos boasting about their crimes on social media sites).

They'll stop doing that stuff when there's no pay off. When there's no audience left.