Cheap and controversial allofmp3 download site closes

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 05 July 2007 02:24

Your IT - Home IT

The notorious download site allofmp3.com has closed.

Allofmp3.com's owner claimed the operation was legal under Russian law, with royalty payments being made to the appropriate local agency. But major record companies took legal action, claiming that the site did not have permission to sell the music and that the purported royalty payments did not reach the rightsholders.

(These arguments remind us of the current US debate over Internet radio, where government-mandated royalties paid by webcasters only reach rightsholders if they join the scheme operated by the appointed agency. And statutory licences are nothing unusual in the west.)

New laws that came into effect last year were intended to negate allofmp3's interpretation of Russian copyright rules. US trade negotiators had reportedly threatened to block Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation unless something was done about allofmp3.com.

According to The Independent, allofmp3.com was was the second most popular paid download site among UK users, behind iTunes.

Ars Technica recently reported that a man was arrested in the UK for allegedly selling allofmp3.com vouchers. The company began offering vouchers when the major credit cards stopped processing payments to allofmp3.

Mp3sparks.com, a second site that appeared to be a clone of allofmp3.com operated by the same company, has been offering similar deals, but it too seems to have closed.

AllTunes.com is another Russia-based site offering music at prices as low as 15 cents per song and $US1.99 per album. Like Apple's iTunes Store, a downloadable application is used to purchase music. According to The Associated Press, allofmp3.com and allTunes.com are owned by the same company. The domains are registered by OOO MediaServices and OOO Internet-Audit, which have separate addresses in Moscow.