Digital Art and Aura

I raised this question in class, but no one seemed to give it much thought, so here I go again.

Benjamin talks about the originality of art pieces, about aura as "the unique phenomenon of distance" and about the desire of the masses to "bring things 'closer' spatially and humanly, which is just as ardent as their bent towards overcoming the uniqueness of every reality by accepting its reproduction".  So a piece of art is unique because the "original" is more important, more valuable, in its original media (so, the Mona Lisa original is better, has more aura than a poster reproduction) (1236).

My question is, what about the ever growing and ever popular form of digital art?  Especially the kind that resides on online art sites?  I myself reside on art sites quite often and have established myself in my own little genre zone, but I find myself awed by and competing with digital artists when it comes to my own traditional draw-and-scan technique.  Digital art made by art tablets (like Wacom tablets) are still complicated and require a lot of skill, you still have to draw the lines with the electronic sensory pen and clean up your line art, it's still art.  But my question has to do with the aura of a digital piece.  Where does one find that aura, when there is almost no sense in pointing to a given file and calling that the "original" of the digital piece?  A file can recopied exactly, taken, and thrown all over the internet.  True, with the internet art fans as sharp as they are, if any attempted plagiarism occurs (tracing, stealing poses/characters, or trying to feel another's work) it can be tracked down and dealt with, but where is the aura?

My answer would be that the aura of digital art lies not so much in the art itself, which can be absolutely fantastic and enviable, but in the unseen artist.  On art websites people tend to follow the artist for their subject matter, their style, and sometimes even their sociability with their fans.  People by prints, leave comments, ask to base one of their own pieces on someone's work due to inspiration, and even try to meet the artists because of that association.  I would also argue that online digital artists are the source of the aura of their art because people tend to associate their interest more with the artists themselves or with their homepage.

I had to bring this up, just because I live with it all the time and wondered how it would apply.  What do you guys think?  Feel free to add any opinions other other types of digital artists (advertisements, special effects, etc.).