That's a great article. (The word is "rife", btw.)
As the article hints, it's a problem of economics. With spec work, the artist only gets paid on a few works out of many. To make many works and still earn a living wage, the artist must make each work with a fraction of the resources usually allocated to a professional work -- which on average can't compete with stolen works produced with more resources.
If spec work paid more, real artists might be able to compete -- but the only reason people want spec work is because it is cheaper... in the short term at least.
As the article hints, it's a problem of economics. With spec work, the artist only gets paid on a few works out of many. To make many works and still earn a living wage, the artist must make each work with a fraction of the resources usually allocated to a professional work -- which on average can't compete with stolen works produced with more resources.
If spec work paid more, real artists might be able to compete -- but the only reason people want spec work is because it is cheaper... in the short term at least.