Re:America = fascist police state (Score 2, Insightful)

If you get taken by crooks ... you also need to seek recourse to the law immediately.

Many of these comments suggest that the people being busted have a storefront (that can be trespassed upon), have an attorney or claim one, and, most importantly, have a basic understanding of and faith in their own rights. In fact it seems more likely that the RIAA folks are deliberately targeting people who are safe to hassle because they do not have those things.

If these people are lower-income (parking cars for a buck a car), selling something in a place they don't have a clearly established right to be, or recent (and possibly undocumented) immigrants, they're not going to lawyer up at the first sign of trouble. They don't trust the authorities and they Don't Want Trouble.

On the other hand, we are talking about the LAPD. It's hard to imagine how a middle-aged Hispanic man working on the LA streets would have any concerns about their flawless record with respect to fair and even-handed behavior. :-)