Slashdot Mirror
Allofmp3.com Wins Court Case
remove writes "Gizmodo is running a story from a reader tip that claims that the russian site Allofmp3.com, popular with slashdotters for their user selectable format which had been reported as being under investigation recently has been let off the hook by the Russian DA, becuase of a loophole in russian law which allows users create copies of songs by request. Basically, even though the courts have found their site operator's behavior to be illegal- they can't prosecute because the user dynamically creates copies of songs to be downloaded themselves."
I don't understand how it is possible for them to be 'theoretically illegal' AND 'the law can't be applied against them'. Surely if the law is not applicable, then they are legal (both theoretically and in practice)?
I will be interested to follow this case since I do not see any reason so far not to use this service from the UK. IANAL, but this does look legal so far, despite the apparent low cost. Is it possible that the RIAA and BPI (as representatives of The Big Four) have no power over this company?
"Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything." (attrib. Joseph Stalin)
I've bought loads of albums from allofmp3 without a problem. Don't think they're dodgy just because English isn't their mother tongue.
And as stated before, if only the *other* legal services had their level of service - they allow you to download unencrypted files in any format/bitrate you like, from mp3 to mpc. That makes them worth using in my opinion.
Simple, from the DA's point of view, they are violating the spirit of the law. As they have not violated the actual letter of the law, they are ok.
At least until a new law is made.
Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
It trounces all over the spirit, but, it abides by the letter of the law.
Ahh, so the russians have learnt western-style capitlism then
It's not 'theoretically illegal'. It's legal, until they change the law.
On the other hand it could also be viewed as requesting a copy and having it sent to you by the sharer -- which is what happens at a technical level (GET, not cp, so it's someone else's program on someone else's computer making the copy). But on the other hand, I use Amazon and iTunes. Musicians who deserve to be listened to also generally deserve their nickel. Same goes for audio engineers, producers, and anyone else involved....yes, including the executives at the record company. They have a mortgage to pay and food to buy. Record companies lose a lot of money on flops; they owe it to their investors to break even.
It seems to me that allofmp3.com didn't win anything. The district attorney simply decided not to prosecute because he didn't think the law covered digital copies. Now at any time a new district attorney could interpret the law differently and decide to prosecute. So until allofmp3.com actually does win a court case, they aren't really safe.
-TheDawgLives suckitdown
Yes, the tags are complete and accurate. No artwork, but that's not such a hassle. Why would you have to "drop" $30 to find out if they have tags? You can pre-pay any amount you want and they even give you 20 cents credit when you sign up. Don't laugh--at 2 cents per MB 20 cents actually goes pretty far.
Sure the RIAA sucks and Apple is maximizing their profit. Buying tunes from an overseas source that isn't authorized to sell them doesn't help solve anything.
Neither does handing over money to the parasites who will use that money to lobby washington to erode the liberties of the citizens of this country.
You are allowing unethical laws to define your expectations of morality. That sure as hell isn't going to "help solve the problem."
No, you pay for good, clean rips in the format of your choice, from an easily searchable catalog on servers with a fat pipe. FWIW, a .wav may cost you as much as the original CD in many cases.
As I understand it, they are required to pay a fee to the artist/label for each download, but most (labels/artists) are too lazy/stubburn/poor to register with the Russians. (Hint: when dealing with Russia, hire a Russian lawyer).
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
The thing is though, that you could DOUBLE the price paid on AllOfMp3.com and give the rest to the artist. That would result in the artist getting paid about as much as they do now and the price would still be a tiny fraction of what you pay for the song on any US service.
You want to bet on that? I think at least one website got stopped from selling cheaper foreign import CDs in the EU - CDWow.com?
This is one area of IP law which I think is in urgent need of revision. IMHO Once a copyright owner has authorised the creation of a (physical) copy (eg a CD or DVD) and it has been shipped to a retailer, then the copyright owner should have no further control of the disposition of that physical copy. If it is cheaper for a consumer (in whatever country) to pay the retail price in another country plus pay the international shipping charges and any customs duty/taxes than to buy it from a local retailer then this should be a hint to the local distribution chain that it should lower its charges. Corporations outsource their manufacture and (increasingly now also) their support to countries with cheaper labour costs, so why should the consumer not be also allowed to minimise costs by buying from cheaper sources?