In the third world, and on the streets of all ghettos, the first means of survival is to make a profit without investment, where there is nothing to invest. So, all hustlers provide themselves with Cd's , a computer and a scanner, where they make a living without taxes, licencing responsibilities, and in a market where there are too many to be traced.

Some call it black market, some call it piracy, in the minds of hustlers it is called survival.

So on every hustler's corner, they hustle Cd's. This idea has now become a culture one more hugh item on a vender's table and is very much nornal to the oppressed mind. So now we ask ourselfs, what is the solution?, the answer to that question is there is no SOLUTION as long as there is poverty and oppression where as the so called rich get richer and the so called poor gets poorer and the record industries keep making huge profits. The recording artist makes twice as much money doing shows than they make on royalty on a average which has always been the case. They say prevention is better than cure. the sure way of prevention is to manage your own product create your own destiny.

Music of any kind, a computer and a scanner has now become the new frontier on the hustler's corner, and is here to stay. So will some one please tell me why do musicians need the so called RIAA?? do they have a solution ?.

"So will some one please tell me why do musicians need the so called RIAA??"

Why don't you ask the musicians themselves? They are the ones who decided to do business with the RIAA.

You call them hustlers - what a load. They are criminals. You try and paint them as individuals guys doing business. In fact, most of this trade is run by criminal gangs who are making millions. The same gangs that run car theft rings and drug rings.

RIAA - bad. Criminal gangs selling pirates - bad.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Yeah, mroop, but a lot of money makes wrongs right. Check it. RIAA music is crack-music. They hook the young ones by any means.. like soft porn,.. then just like addicts, they control their habit. They control the production and distribution, so all that is heard is their crack crank over and over ad infinatum. Then they charge TOO MUCH.. not what the market would bear as in true capitalism.. then bust those who gotta get that RIAA fix.. sounds like crack to me..

"In fact, most of this trade is run by criminal gangs who are making millions." RIAA takes one to know one..

mroop you dont know what your talking about, bootlegers do not work for gangs, they do this for a living.

how do you know they even are in gangs, or how do you know they are criminals, you dont know shit, ur just assuming they are. our economy is down the toilet, they are just trying to survive

and i know because im friends with some of those "criminals"

I didn't mean gang as in crips and bloods. I meant gang as in, "A group of criminals or hoodlums who band together for mutual protection and profit."

How do know they are criminals? Piracy is against the law. That means they are criminals.

As far as just trying to survive, I know what you are saying. It is the same thing I have heard from prisoners. I hope they take their money and use it to put themselves through college. But they are probably spending it on jewelry and fancy cars.

I think the point of the post was that this is everyday survival for many people. Its so far underground, its become part of the culture,

People will only pay what they think a luxury product is worth.
Some will just put the purchase off. I could afford a fancy car, but believe they (and all new cars) are overpriced by about 300 %. I keep driving my 11 year old truck. Some people are so desperate, or feel that the system is so corrupt and leveraged against them, that they steal.
It is not right, but I have been homeless, in the winter, and your perspective gets a little skewed.
The cure is to make the system more equitable, and to then punish those who still refuse to abide by the laws of common decency.

The Kid

mroop is right. two wrongs don't make a right. but, two rights make a left

See I think that sellin cd's on a street corner is fine... If your the musician dj whatever... on the other hand i dont feel file sharing is bad...