[X] My Assistant

[CanRay]

I know igors are good with needles and thread and sometimes inherit organs/limbs from their relatives, but I can't remember anything about organlegging. In a more advanced society they probably would be good at cloning as well.

There's a lot of organlegging that Igors do. However, it's all voluntary. If you accept help from an Igor, then, when you pass on, you're expected to give something back, or a lot of somethings in bad situations.

[Sengir]

The problem is that whether the organ is cloned or not can be verified by a DNA test, and the fraud will be revealed.

Sure, every fraud can be found out somehow

What benefit is there from cultured organs besides not being Type O?

Good question, but it's obviously worth a significant markup.


And just read some esoteric forums to see what crazy stuff people are willing to believe, without large PR departments (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[CanRay]

No thanks, I get into the head of conspiracy theorists for my Shadowposts and that's bad enough.

[Nifft]

No, I actually was not assuming that. The cheapes Cost ofr Parts is Type O. Which is what I was basing my cost analysis upon, not that fact that everyone would have Type O parts. Organs can be implanted in anyone, with the right Immuno Suppressants. And an Organ can be FOUND for anyone, with enough looking.

Emphasis mine. That "enough looking" thing is very expensive.

So, If you want to base the Cost on a "Clonal PArt," The Organleggers make even more money. They will sell their parts to those who can use them.

Clonal Parts need no Immuno Suppressants...
Type O Parts Need no Immuno SUppressants
All other PArts likely require some level of Immuno Suppressants, dependant upon how close a match is provided. In a Black Clinic, you take your chances, but at least it is likely cheaper than a Type O or Clonal Replacemewnt part.

I'm just not seeing why it should be cheaper to pay for "enough looking" than it would be to pay for a type-O generic part.

A Black Clinic or Street Doc with at least a Shop can perform any of the required tests for Organ/Limb replacement. It does not cost all that much, actually.

What costs a lot is running those tests on every single corpse you drag in, in the hopes that you'll find the needle in the haystack which nets you less than the cost of a type-O generic organ.

As for Usual Source for Second Hand. Any body can be a source for Second Hand Ware. No one says that they have to survive the procedure. I think you are making some assumptions about the world that are not actually true. I think that you are concentrating on LEGAL Organ and Limb transplants, which Organlegging takes absolutely no part in. Again, you get what you get, and hope that it works.

If you think that, then you're missing my point here. The point is that the second-hand market works only because it deals with:
- parts that are high margin (even the cheapest 'ware is an investment);
- parts that people want to voluntarily replace (so you have a good excuse for why second-hand parts exist when the cops ask about them on your price-list); and
- parts that are fairly generic because they are either cyber (no DNA to match) or type-O generic bioware.

Replacement organs from corpses match NONE of these criteria, and they add complications, like the fact that many of them are material evidence linking you to a recent crime.

What I'm saying is that if you want to use the MECHANICS for legal second-hand parts, you need to match the CRITERIA for that market to exist. Organ-legging fails to meet any of the criteria.

Cheers, -- N

[Blitz66]

I know igors are good with needles and thread and sometimes inherit organs/limbs from their relatives, but I can't remember anything about organlegging. In a more advanced society they probably would be good at cloning as well.

There was one good at cloning in Discworld. The Igor employed in the Guard has this radical idea of growing ears and noses and such on rats, in jars, etc, so there's extras in case somebody loses one. Unpopular with the traditionalist Igors, but Vimes thought it useful, if unpleasant.

Also, Igors are total organleggers. The thing about young Bill losing a leg was actually from the books, though the name may not have been Bill and it was specifically a woodcutting accident. You need a body part, you come to Igor. He's probably got something on ice that will do. But when you die, your family should know to expect a knock on the door from Igor, because your parts could well be useful for somebody else. The fact that they enthusiastically practice on themselves too is just an extension of it.

As for the comparative viability of organlegging in Shadowrun, I don't know. Growing Type O organs is sure to be reasonably expensive too, or at least require substantial equipment, and the sort of an operation would involve a paper trail. Not necessarily expensive, if they deal in enough of them, but the costs are enough that only legitimate operations can deal in them. If you need an organ replacement on the down-low - possibly because you were wounded in a high-profile criminal operation or something of that sort - maybe you have to settle for whatever somebody's got on ice.

[Dakka Dakka]

Sure, every fraud can be found out somehow

Depending on what organ we are talking about, extracting a sample and having it tested wil be quite easy (skingrafts/full limbs) or hard (internal organs)

Good question, but it's obviously worth a significant markup.

The markup may not be beacuse the organs are inherently better but be caused by higher creation cost.

And just read some esoteric forums to see what crazy stuff people are willing to believe, without large PR departments (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Yes you will find some people who will believe all sorts of BS but for a working industry you would need a significant portion of the people who need new organs to believe that particular BS.

[Ascalaphus]

Here's some ideas I came up with when brainstorming for a campaign:
- If somebody needs an organ grown, he invites tenders on a (legal & legitimate) "biotech classifieds" network. Organleggers are active on these sites and can of course undercut the competition in price and delivery times, if they have a matching organ on offer.
- A street doc checks whether he can get a matching harvested organ before ordering a cloned one for his client. Of course the client is billed for a new one.
- Somebody in the biotech facility to which the actual cloning got sub-subcontracted is the malefactor. If an order comes in for something he has in the freezer, he'll fake the paperwork to make it look as if the organ got cloned, and then ship the harvested one.

Assume the illicit supplier can pull his trick on 5% of all offers, then all three scenarios offer a nice cash stream in the long run.

This kind of in-the-shadows cutting-corners kind of corruption and organlegging sounds a lot more plausible than the vast-body-snatching Tamanous paranoia.




Another thing to keep in mind: how quickly do organs in a dead body start to decay? I think that unless you quickly use some kind of preservation method, the organs are going to end up polluted by the corpse around it. The corpses you've got left over from last night's fiasco are probably not good for anything else but feeding the ghouls.

That's also why I think it's dubious that Tamanous has a desk where people can drop off corpses they want to sell; most corpses are useless (diseased, decayed, incompatible). If people need to drag 20 corpses to your hideout for every 1 corpse you're gonna buy, that's way too inconspicuous.

So maybe there's some sort of corpse-evaluation-collection kit that prospective "harvesters" can carry around (make sure not to get caught); I'd make that a Medicine roll to evaluate a corpse for "reseller value".

I think organlegging has a place in the setting, but I think it should be quite low-key, very secretive and not on the massive scale suggested by Tamanous.

[CanRay]

Isn't the transplant time IRL something close to an hour or two? For removal from the body, that is. Transport can lead on that time for a bit with packed ice and such.

Personally, I figure that SR Tech allows for harvested organs to be stored for a significant length of time, months if not a full year, allowing for quite the stock to be prepared. This is probably a secondary effect of cybernetic and bioware systems being developed.

[Fikealox]

Personally, given the fluff and crunch, I don't think it's difficult to justify a widespread organlegging industry supported primarily by sales of second-hand organs for implantation. We're told that organleggers supply low-cost products to a high-demand market, and it's a huge market: many (perhaps even most) people in the SR-verse presumably simply cannot afford cloned organs, so their only options are second-hand bits or going without.

Sure, the illegal industry faces difficulties and risks that the legitimate sector doesn't, but operators like Tamanous have obviously worked out a way to be profitable regardless. Perhaps a combination of an economy of scale, globalisation, a fantastic distribution network, and advances in immuno-suppressant medication/implants. I realise that it's somewhat disanalogous, but it is still interesting to consider real world examples of the distribution of illegal products: counterfeit pharmaceuticals, for example, are estimated to an annual net $32 billion globally, sustained by only a 9% profit margin for importers (and that's if sold for MSRP).

To my mind, it would be harder to justify an organlegging industry sustained primarily by sales of human telesma, given the much smaller market (only awakened, only those who want foci, only those with focus formulae requiring human telesma, only those who are willing to stomach the risk/immorality of using such a focus, etc). It would certainly make a good story, and would be a lucrative specialty sideline for organleggers, but I can't see it as a better justification for an industry than mass distribution of even a risky, illegal, low-margin product.

YMMV, of course, and we're all allowed to disagree and run our settings as we like. There's no right or wrong. I just personally prefer to find ways to justify the fluff rather than revising the the setting to fit extra-setting preconceptions. Peace! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

If you think that, then you're missing my point here. The point is that the second-hand market works only because it deals with:
- parts that are high margin (even the cheapest 'ware is an investment);
- parts that people want to voluntarily replace (so you have a good excuse for why second-hand parts exist when the cops ask about them on your price-list); and
- parts that are fairly generic because they are either cyber (no DNA to match) or type-O generic bioware.

Replacement organs from corpses match NONE of these criteria, and they add complications, like the fact that many of them are material evidence linking you to a recent crime.

What I'm saying is that if you want to use the MECHANICS for legal second-hand parts, you need to match the CRITERIA for that market to exist. Organ-legging fails to meet any of the criteria.

Cheers, -- N

Who said anything about VOLUNTARY replacement. Sometimes you have no choice and just have to get something replaced. Take a severe wound and your liver is destroyed. Got to have a new one. Nothing Voluntary about that at all...

Price Lists? Are you kidding me?

Who said they were legal? Did you not see the Markdowns due to street costs that I was using? Those are the Mecahnics I am talking about. There is NOTHING LEGAL about Organlegging. I thought that you knew that. Organlegging is Illegal. Why are you trying to make it into a legal enterprise? I am not matching your Legal Criteria for Organlegging, because I am not trying to make organlegging a legal practice.

And another question. How often, in your game, do the Police carry a Biomedical Scanning Facility/Shop (entertaining isn't it?) to examine someone on the chance that they MAY have Illegal Organs gleaned from the Organleggers in their body? I mean really? Are you even hearing what you are saying?

[JanessaVR]

I've found organlegging to be a ridiculous idea as well. In SR's 2071, biotechnology (or cybertechnology) really is the better option. My RM is a dialysis patient, 3 days per week. She *is* on a kidney donor waiting list and notes that with any transplanted organ, you're on a handful of drugs *every day for the rest of your life* to stop your body from rejecting it, and implanting it requires a pricey surgery and hospital stay as well. Accordingly, organlegging was retconned out of existence at our gaming table.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

I've found organlegging to be a ridiculous idea as well. In SR's 2071, biotechnology (or cybertechnology) really is the better option. My RM is a dialysis patient, 3 days per week. She *is* on a kidney donor waiting list and notes that with any transplanted organ, you're on a handful of drugs *every day for the rest of your life* to stop your body from rejecting it, and implanting it requires a pricey surgery and hospital stay as well. Accordingly, organlegging was retconned out of existence at our gaming table.

How Nice for you... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)
Better Option does not mean Only Option... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Nifft]

Who said anything about VOLUNTARY replacement. Sometimes you have no choice and just have to get something replaced. Take a severe wound and your liver is destroyed. Got to have a new one. Nothing Voluntary about that at all...

Price Lists? Are you kidding me?

Simmer down.

Either you communicate with new customers, or you don't have an industry. "Price list" is short-hand for that communication. Are you saying that your street docs never see new patients?

Who said they were legal? Did you not see the Markdowns due to street costs that I was using?

Markdowns to what? You don't have "price lists", so what exactly are you marking down?

Those are the Mecahnics I am talking about. There is NOTHING LEGAL about Organlegging. I thought that you knew that. Organlegging is Illegal.

No shit.

Here's the thing you're missing: in order to hide an illegal enterprise, you usually need a legal enterprise to front for it. For example, a pawn shop as the front for a fence. There are lots of legal goods for sale, and lots of stolen goods, but you mix them together and paint on a patina of plausible deniability. This allows the enterprise to survive the scrutiny of the authorities, whatever form they take.

And another question. How often, in your game, do the Police carry a Biomedical Scanning Facility/Shop (entertaining isn't it?) to examine someone on the chance that they MAY have Illegal Organs gleaned from the Organleggers in their body? I mean really? Are you even hearing what you are saying?

All the fucking time. It's called an autopsy, and it happens at a "biomedical scanning facility" -- a facility specialized in identifying DNA, which they like to use for evidence.

But you've missed the point I was trying to make, which is that for a 'runner, the dumbest thing he could possibly do is try to hawk body-parts which could place him at the scene of a crime (i.e. the murder scene, where he got the parts). You're selling evidence to unscrupulous people. If there's a reward for information leading to your capture and that reward is more than the slim margin they stand to make for participating in the organ-legging operation, you think they won't rat your sorry ass out?

The organ-legging industry is dumb. It makes no sense as written.

I've found organlegging to be a ridiculous idea as well. In SR's 2071, biotechnology (or cybertechnology) really is the better option. My RM is a dialysis patient, 3 days per week. She *is* on a kidney donor waiting list and notes that with any transplanted organ, you're on a handful of drugs *every day for the rest of your life* to stop your body from rejecting it, and implanting it requires a pricey surgery and hospital stay as well. Accordingly, organlegging was retconned out of existence at our gaming table.

My condolences. I'm assuming that in Shadowrun, there is a solution to that issue at least for type-O and cloned organs.

Cheers, -- N

[Ascalaphus]

As a Barrens resident in need of a new organ, you've got a choice between:

A) Taking a loan with the Mob to buy a Type O liver for 2500 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) . And then it just works.

B) Paying only 500 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) to what is generally considered to be the scariest syndicate of all, getting a liver previously used by someone who died in suspicious circumstances, with no real quality control other than Tamanous' word that it's good, and being on expensive immunosuppressants for the rest of your life.



I'd really take the Mob loan.

[Fikealox]

Simmer down ... No shit ... All the fucking time ...

Maybe take your own advice.

The organ-legging industry is dumb. It makes no sense as written.

I disagree. The organlegging industry isn't 'dumb'. Organlegging is risky, sure, but so is every illegal activity to some degree or other, including Shadowrunning. In the real world, cooking and selling meth is hugely risky and offers meagre (and wholly inadequate) financial rewards for all but a few of the people involved, but more meth is made and sold every year.

Deciding that the organlegging industry is dumb requires privileging extra-setting presumptions over setting materials. If you start with the presumption that the sale of second-hand organs is financially infeasible and that various stages within the organlegging process are so risky that no-one would partake in it, of course the industry is dumb.

However, to me, and I suspect to Tymeaus, it seems more legitimate to find ways to justify the setting as we are given it than it is to reject explicit setting materials on the strength of incompatible presumptions. To my mind, because we're told (among other things) that the organlegging industry is flourishing; presumptions which are logically inconsistent with the flourishing of the organlegging industry must be rejected. The organlegging industry simply must not be financially unfeasible, because it is flourishing.

If you find it impossible to stretch your imagination to encompass the flourishing of the organlegging industry as it has been described, I just wonder how you're coping with the rest of the setting. Even without the readily available plausible (within the confines of the setting) explanations for Tamanous' flourishing, it is far from the least believable thing in Shadowrun.

Just my 2c.

[Summerstorm]

As a Barrens resident in need of a new organ, you've got a choice between:

A) Taking a loan with the Mob to buy a Type O liver for 2500 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) . And then it just works.

B) Paying only 500 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) to what is generally considered to be the scariest syndicate of all, getting a liver previously used by someone who died in suspicious circumstances, with no real quality control other than Tamanous' word that it's good, and being on expensive immunosuppressants for the rest of your life.



I'd really take the Mob loan.

Hm... but you can't take the mob-loan. Especially not for 2500. (Well maybe you could... but that is not enough)

An organ, type-O is 6000. We just assume that includes implantation and overhead (because we are nice).

So, now let us begin: WAIT YOU DON't have a SIN? So your medical procedure can't be properly monitored, and you don't have a bio-record? No SIR, not in our hospital. You might want to go to some... OTHER establishment.

Fix: Have it done in the shadows illegaly or buy a SIN.

Ok, welcome to XXX. I see you have a SIN (or paid us extra to just ignore that TINY problem). Let us begin... You have paid the 6000? Ok. I assume you made the security deposit, if it is neccessary for you to claim special procedures, if something goes unexpected wrong (only 95% of the population can take type-o, and of those 5% begin to reject it after a while), or if you need long-term care? Oh... you haven't? It's not that it is likely you need it... we just NEED to be prepared. Ah you might grease a few palms to skip that. But be warned you will get thrown out after the operation... no matter how it went.

OR you could just pay half of all that crap and hope for the best. (Hey, the doctor has an excelent track record)

So i mean: Yeah, runners who earn 20k in a month don't need it. Execs who make 100k don't need it. Even corporate drones who are somewhat useful (but don't have any money) don't need it. But everyone who just CAN't affort 10.000 or so, are illigal immigrants, are overloaded with debts (and now have a sick little girl) or just plain incompatible with Type-O and can't afford the time or money to have something cloned. All NEED "donated" stuff and a cheap "doctor".

I have absolutely no problems imagining that. Don't mix utopiancrystal-nano age crap into my shadowrun *g*.

Also costs for organ "donation": All you need is a RELATIVE up-to date medical database (hacked and stolen from multiple corps, docwagon, hospitals etc.) and someone who didn't make surgeon in university. Some random dropout who knows how to use the tech. And then someone willing to lend you access to (or steal for you) medical facilities.

After that: Some random punk to knock someone out and bring a dude to you. That's like expenses of a thousand bucks per standard victim.

[Ascalaphus]

Hm... but you can't take the mob-loan. Especially not for 2500. (Well maybe you could... but that is not enough)

An organ, type-O is 6000. We just assume that includes implantation and overhead (because we are nice).

People take way bigger Mob loans, to keep a business afloat, start one, buy implants, whatever. That's not stopping someone who really needs it.

So, now let us begin: WAIT YOU DON't have a SIN? So your medical procedure can't be properly monitored, and you don't have a bio-record? No SIR, not in our hospital. You might want to go to some... OTHER establishment.

Fix: Have it done in the shadows illegaly or buy a SIN.

Since Type O fits everyone, it's much easier to sell on the black market; more potential customers. You don't need a layer of people to find compatible "donors" and recipients.

Ok, welcome to XXX. I see you have a SIN (or paid us extra to just ignore that TINY problem). Let us begin... You have paid the 6000? Ok. I assume you made the security deposit, if it is neccessary for you to claim special procedures, if something goes unexpected wrong (only 95% of the population can take type-o, and of those 5% begin to reject it after a while), or if you need long-term care? Oh... you haven't? It's not that it is likely you need it... we just NEED to be prepared. Ah you might grease a few palms to skip that. But be warned you will get thrown out after the operation... no matter how it went.

OR you could just pay half of all that crap and hope for the best. (Hey, the doctor has an excelent track record)

Type O by RAW works for pretty much all metahumans. It's vampires and pixies who need something special.

And if implanting is difficult, it's certainly harder with stolen organs than with Type O.

Anyone with a company health plan is going to get Type O. The corporation can just take it out of your wages; it won't be fun, but you won't be spending 100-1000 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) on immunosuppressants per month.

I don't really see organlegging work well if stolen organs cost more than 5% or so of good replacement organs; but I think the overhead of organlegging should actually be quite high. Harvesting organs shouldn't be all that easy, because only unhealthy donors make really easy targets, and you'd need a large network to match supply and demand at sufficient speed.




Don't get me wrong: I want organlegging in SR. But Type O is cheap enough, and so much better. To make organlegging work, the price of Type O needs to be higher. I think fluff and crunch collide, so I'd change the RAW to suit the fluff. By increasing the cost of Type O organs.

Alternatively: bioware "improvement" organs that cost Essence but are more powerful than normal organs, and normal organs cost roughly the same. Normal people who need a new liver take the LiverPlus; only Sams and Mages actually get Essence-free replacement organs, everyone else can spare the Essence to be "restored and improved".

[Faelan]

People take way bigger Mob loans, to keep a business afloat, start one, buy implants, whatever. That's not stopping someone who really needs it.

You fail to grasp something here, the mob will make loans to anyone they can reasonably expect to PAY. They are making a loan with at least a 20% a month interest rate. Where is this poor schmuck going to get the money to pay the interest let alone pay back on the principal. He better have assets, oh wait he would have looked at selling things off in the first place. Is his body worth the money they are loaning him? Probably not. So why woul dth emob ever loan him the money in the first place? The mob wants it's money, not broken kneecaps, or bodies, and it does not make investments in horses they cant kill for the insurance later on.

[Ascalaphus]

The Mob doesn't always expect people to pay back those loans. If they can't pay them back, the Mob owns them, which can be useful itself.

[Sengir]

The markup may not be beacuse the organs are inherently better but be caused by higher creation cost.

Well, according to RAW cultured organs are no better, organ transplants (as opposed to bioware) cost zero essence no matter what you take. Even 2nd hand organs would cost 1.2*zero...but obviously there needs to be some advantage, otherwise nobody would bother to produce cultured organs (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Yes you will find some people who will believe all sorts of BS but for a working industry you would need a significant portion of the people who need new organs to believe that particular BS.

You have any idea what the suppliers of homeopathy or herbal supplements make each year? Fooling people with false health promises is a huge business, and if the alleged miracle cure is criminalized the profits would even grow.

[Ascalaphus]

Well, according to RAW cultured organs are no better, organ transplants (as opposed to bioware) cost zero essence no matter what you take. Even 2nd hand organs would cost 1.2*zero...but obviously there needs to be some advantage, otherwise nobody would bother to produce cultured organs (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Non-metahumans. There isn't any Type O for vampires.

[Sengir]

Non-metahumans. There isn't any Type O for vampires.

Vampires have Regeneration, and I doubt the few sapient critters (who mostly have no SIN and thus no insurance plan) are enough of a market

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Simmer down.

Either you communicate with new customers, or you don't have an industry. "Price list" is short-hand for that communication. Are you saying that your street docs never see new patients?

I am actually quite calm, how about you? Notrice I am not the one using the harsh language, you are.

Nope, I am saying that they do not publish Price Lists for the cops to peruse at their convenience. A Black Clinic is already an illegal operation. Do you think that they are reviewed and inspected by authorities on a continual basis to insure compliance with some standard of operation?

Markdowns to what? You don't have "price lists", so what exactly are you marking down?

You have a Standard Industry Cost. The Street Cost is a Markdown from there. Isn't that obvious?

Here's the thing you're missing: in order to hide an illegal enterprise, you usually need a legal enterprise to front for it. For example, a pawn shop as the front for a fence. There are lots of legal goods for sale, and lots of stolen goods, but you mix them together and paint on a patina of plausible deniability. This allows the enterprise to survive the scrutiny of the authorities, whatever form they take.

And yet, there are industries that have no front that are still illegal (Especially in Shadowrun). I do not try to rationalize a "Legal" option for the Organlegging operation. Black Clinics are ALREADY illegal, the fact that they might also offer Illegal Organs does not change that one iota.

All the fucking time. It's called an autopsy, and it happens at a "biomedical scanning facility" -- a facility specialized in identifying DNA, which they like to use for evidence.

And yet, why would they do so on a living target? You miss my point. If person X goes in for surgery to receive an illegally organlegged organ, why would the cops stop him at a later point to Examine him for said illegal organs? It will not happen. Corruption sees to that.

But you've missed the point I was trying to make, which is that for a 'runner, the dumbest thing he could possibly do is try to hawk body-parts which could place him at the scene of a crime (i.e. the murder scene, where he got the parts). You're selling evidence to unscrupulous people. If there's a reward for information leading to your capture and that reward is more than the slim margin they stand to make for participating in the organ-legging operation, you think they won't rat your sorry ass out?

The organ-legging industry is dumb. It makes no sense as written.

But you miss the point, there is No "Hawking" going on... You make an arrangement with an organization to provide a service, and you get your cred. Usually, this arrangement is long standing and continuous. You get some consideration, and they get the materials for a baseline industry. Seems pretty amenable to me. Much like the Shadows themselves, If you use everything at your disposal to prosecute crime, then the shadows evaporate. Same for Organlegging. There is an understanding that some things need to be "Ignored" for the culture to function as it is described. With the rampant corruption that is prevalent in Shadowrun, Organlegging can thrive relatively unhindered. Note that it is counter productive to turn on your suppliers. It may happen occasionally, but it will be rare, especially in Shadowrun.

I will agree that in our society today, organlegging is a non-starter for the most part. Not so in Shadowrun.

I think it makes perfect sense as it is written.

[Dakka Dakka]

Vampires have Regeneration, and I doubt the few sapient critters (who mostly have no SIN and thus no insurance plan) are enough of a market

Also you don't know how Type O interacts with the magus factor. It might be that a Type O organ causes Magic Loss. There is no rule for it, but at least this would explain the existence of cultured organs apart from the customer wants them. Another possibility would be that type O is illegal. Think about Type O skin transplant. Would you still shed skin cells with your DNA?

But you miss the point, there is No "Hawking" going on... You make an arrangement with an organization to provide a service, and you get your cred. Usually, this arrangement is long standing and continuous. You get some consideration, and they get the materials for a baseline industry. Seems pretty amenable to me. Much like the Shadows themselves, If you use everything at your disposal to prosecute crime, then the shadows evaporate. Same for Organlegging. There is an understanding that some things need to be "Ignored" for the culture to function as it is described. With the rampant corruption that is prevalent in Shadowrun, Organlegging can thrive relatively unhindered. Note that it is counter productive to turn on your suppliers. It may happen occasionally, but it will be rare, especially in Shadowrun.

If nobody cared, you would be right, but there are always some people who care, even for the wrong reasons. The media will jump on a juicy story of people being kidnapped to harvest their organs. Once the media get involved the authorities will have to do something. The other thing is the whole practicality issue. You have a very limited customer base (those that need an organ and either can't afford the legal avenue or don't want to take it). Without Type O you also have a very limited supply of goods. Not only must the organs be in good condition they also need to match the recipient. So you will either need large storage capacity, if storing is possible at all, or you need a lot of manpower to hunt the organs down in time. Testing the victims way before extraction of the organs would also help to have "cheap external storage" but getting them tested would require additional manpower. Lastly working globally would make matching donor and recipient easier but would add additional transport cost. This is all the cost I can think of if organlegging were a legitimate business. The overhead from concealing it will add to that.

Does organletting fit the atmosphere of SR? Yes. Do I think it can be a profitable enterprise with the given rules? No.

[Ascalaphus]

I will agree that in our society today, organlegging is a non-starter for the most part. Not so in Shadowrun.

I think it makes perfect sense as it is written.

Actually organlegging exists IRL, where it makes more sense, due to waiting lists for voluntary donations. But the prices are way higher.

The demand for stolen organs in SR isn't nearly as high as that for drugs. Only poor people want them. And they're harder to traffic in than drugs.

Mainstream society doesn't really have any real use for Tamanous. Tamanous doesn't have much to offer to most powerful groups, and they're freaky, so they'd make a very good scapegoat for other criminal syndicates who want to deflect heat.