It happened 4 years ago, and the guy's not rich, but this model supported him enough to release 7 full length albums since, and do quite a few concerts. Furthermore, his attitude towards the music industry (and fantastic creativity in music and other things) gained him a bit of a cult following.

I doubt that it will work. People who are willing to donate money to a band are much more likely to buy the album, instead of downloading it. That's how they want to show their support.

using cheeky viral memes have been in the flashbulb's m.o. from the beginning - in fact he got some good press and buzz when he originally uploaded his album with this disclaimer to filesharing sites upon it's release four years ago. imo the piracy angle is downplayed because he makes most of his income from television commercial jingles for unilever and verizon.