Russian MP3 site under criminal investigation

A Russian MP3 site, allofmp3.com is under criminal investigation, accused of copyright abuse by selling digital audio tracks in the MP3 format to consumers for just pennies. The site appears to charge per MB of download, about 2 cents a MB. The group sells music from bands like the Beatles and others who have not authorised digital distribution yet. The Russian site claimed it had licenses to do so from a local clearing house, but record labels have maintained that the licenses weren't valid.

The Moscow City Police Computer Crimes division completed an investigation into allofmp3.com and recommended that the prosecutor charge the site's operators for criminal copyright infringement. "We have consistently said that AllofMP3.com is not licensed to distribute our members' repertoire in Russia or anywhere else," Igor Pozhitkov, regional director of IFPI Moscow said in a statement. "We are pleased that the police are bringing this important case to the attention of the prosecutor."

This is good news for the entertainment industry as it can be seen as a step forward for copyright holders in Russia. The music industry has had some problems in the past trying to convince Russian authorities to deal with piracy cases. The music market in Russia is ranked No. 12 in the world, which was about $326 million in 2003. The IFPI claim however that 64% of music consumed in the country has been pirated. The Moscow City Prosecutor's office has until March 7 to decide whether to act on the police department's recommendation.

Source:
News.com

Written by: James Delahunty @ 23 Feb 2005 8:54

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13 comments

MXGzX

the site has been around for a while and they are just trying to take action now...wow

23.2.2005 10:02 #1

domie

well if you read the post.......
" The music industry has had some problems in the past trying to convince Russian authorities to deal with piracy cases "
the more time they spend trying to catch the REAL pirates and criminals, those who do it for profit and not via p2p just to share then delete, the better for me.

23.2.2005 10:58 #2

baki21

I hope this site does not shut down. It has a lot of music and the files are not encrypted.

23.2.2005 11:43 #3

daemonzx6

The recording industry seems to be a little bit (a lot actually) slow in recognizing potential threats to their cash wad. Take BitTorrent for example, they just realized it was a threat a month or so ago, even though its been around for years.

23.2.2005 16:13 #4

neewbie

Its a crappy site. Just like the rest

23.2.2005 17:48 #5

Hrdrk20

Fear not, www.filetopia.com is still active

23.2.2005 19:52 #6

baki21

Any other good recommendations to find music???

24.2.2005 01:08 #7

A_Klingon

I downloaded a few, totally free (mainstream) albums from these folks about a year ago.

I am happy to see they are still around (for the time being anyway).

Seems to me the RIAA is going to have it's hands full trying to tell the Russians what to do!

(I love it!!) :-)

24.2.2005 01:25 #8

Mr_Taz_UK

Is it just me, or are the RIAA testing their cross border relations just a little too much of late.

Baki21: Quote:Any other good recommendations to find music??? You know we can post that sort of thing here !
Try Google

:o)

24.2.2005 01:36 #9

Repoman89

It's an excellent site too, I payed 10 bucks and got 1000MB worth of very hard to find music (Jason Becker, Satriani, Cacophony and the like). If you can't find stuff on p2p go there before it gets shut down

24.2.2005 04:43 #10

belowline

Try www.mp3search.ru

24.2.2005 06:12 #11

Mr_Taz_UK

[BOLD] ATTENTION NOOBS !!!

5. -> PIRACY AND LINKING TO PIRATED MATERIAL IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE FROZEN IF YOU DO THIS <-

Read the rules !!![/BOLD]

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487

24.2.2005 08:18 #12

ashroy01

were U.S. customers their main source of revenue?

25.2.2005 09:28 #13

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