Google Drive's free tier has (fairly low) daily download limits. It's not actually a suitable replacement for popular projects.

Yes, however there's a crucial difference which is that a Google drive account is attached to an individual, who then is the legal entity responsible for the download. All Google has to do is follow the DMCA and they are safe. Under the current arrangement Google appears to be the delivering the download themselves, putting them in the legal firing line.

Google Drive isn't nearly as public though, so it doesn't become searchable easily...