jbaent,I totally agree and understand what you say. Even though it is illegal, it is not completely wrong. The only reason they want to hold back these promos is the spreading of the songs, before the release date. And that only to add to the anticipation of the buyer (and actually not knowing what he is going to buy. And don't judge from us, We are the most devoted fans, that would buy almost anything with the MK stamp on.) Everyone thinking that it has to do with torrents and lost sales, it is just a silly excuse.Those guys would upload and download everything just for the heck of it.
You have to get into a collectors mind to understand what jbaent is saying. Promos are send to hundreds of people that can actually influence the public. Some of them are collectors themselves or fans of the musician. So what goes out to the rest of us are the promos from the "just take space in my house" journalists and PR men. They sell it on high street and some of them end up on ebay. And then to us MK lunatics, that believe that having something that is uncommon and rare (even if it is only the format), makes us keener fans and give us joy. (yes that is lunacy, but we are still allowed in the society)
It is not about cool, it is about not understanding that there is no actual harm in doing so. It is illegal to spit or pi on high street, but if the nearest rest room is far you will do it without thinking twice. Illegal yes, wrong hardly.