My Question of the Day: Professor Daddy-O, founder of legendary hip-hop talent, Stetsasonic, says the following: “We should NOT have beat up the bootleggers. We should of made them our distribution mechanism.” Do you agree or disagree with his statement?

(thanks to @professordaddyo, for allowing me to ask this question)

My 2 Cents: As much as I love Professor Daddy-O, I’m going to have to disagree with him on this one.

Legalizing the bootleg industry would just create another bootleg industry. The bootleggers cut out the middle man and sell at deep discounts, because they don’t have to cost of overhead, which is what makes bootlegging profitable for the thief. Legalizing their theft and making bootleggers legitimate would add the very things they were seeking to avoid; the middle man and overhead. Bootleggers also fly under the tax radar. This adds another expense to their “business” that doesn’t exist now.

Ultimately, bootlegging is theft, and I don’t see a benefit to our society by legalizing criminal activity so it isn’t considered criminal anymore, just so the music industry can recoup some of its losses. I see this as rewarding bad behavior, which is something that is consistently eroding the moral fabric of our society.

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Take a few moments to check out the tweets from Twitter on this subject:

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JoshDamage I agree if it could be done fairly and legally. Which in the music business is asking a lot

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The commentary doesn’t have to end!

Please feel free to continue to add your comments below.

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