The !AllOfMP3 situation is getting more interesting.
Note: I’m *afraid of linking to it*, that’s how bad the situation is!! Some time ago Heise wrote:
Die Musikindustrie macht ihre Drohung wahr und mahnt Website-Betreiber ab, die Links auf die russische Musik-Download-Plattform !AllofMP3 setzen. ¹
And since this server is situated in Germany...
Bastards!
Back to the !AllofMP3 situation: Heise writes that the US wants Russia to take the service down before Russia is allowed to join the WTO. ²
Here’s what the IFPI claims:
Allofmp3.com is not a legal service either in Russia or anywhere else. It is distributing music without any permission from the artists or copyright holders. Unlike all the legitimate sites, it does not pay artists or copyright holders so it is effectively stealing from those who create music. ³
As far as I understand, this is *not true*.
Here’s an !AllOfMP3.com statement from Slyck:
The site _AllOfMP3.com belongs to a Russian company and for 6 years it has operated within the country, in full compliance with all Russian laws. Throughout this period the various government offices have scrutinized site's legality and have not found any breach of the law. So far there has been no decision by any Russian court contesting the site's legality. [...] The site _AllOfMP3.com does regularly transfer substantial amounts of royalties to the Russian organizations for collective management of rights such as ROMS and FAIR, which have granted the site licenses to legally deliver music through the Internet. ⁴
Sounds like the IFPI is *bullshitting* us.
No permission is required when paying to collecting societies, and clearly they are paying.
And – shame on us! – these guys have their “registered office” in Zürich! ⁵
Of all places. 😢
I foresee the following next step: !AllOfMP3.com will block access from all countries that join this maneuver, thereby accepting the point of view that a person should pay the collecting society of the customer’s country, not the collecting society of the service provider’s country. (Something I find far from obvious.)
What does that remind me of?
It reminds me of the great Internet firewalls around China, Iran, and other countries governed by terrible regimes. Only that we let companies and big business do this to us, where as in other countries, it’s their evil government.
#Copyright #AllOfMP3
(Please contact me if you want to remove your comment.)
⁂
Obviously they mean the US law, not the russian law 🙁
– Radomir Dopieralski 2006-06-07 14:02 UTC