Yes boots, re-issues have always been played, peoples knowledge has also improved, back in the day it was hard to tell on a lot of copies is this an original or not, how many people got ripped off and still do with copies.
We still have members posting pics and matrix numbers, stamps and other info on a daily basis to distinguish if they have an original or boot, or they spot a sale on E-bay and need some info about the record.
Even the experts have got it wrong at times, a lot of DJs will have played boots at times unaware they were doing so.