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AllofMP3.com May Hinder Russia Joining WTO
gitana writes "The New York Times is reporting that American trade negotiators may demand the shutdown of AllofMP3.com as a condition of Russia joining the World Trade Organization." From the article: "Music industry officials say AllofMP3, which first came to their attention in 2004, is a large-scale commercial piracy site, and they dismiss its claims of legality. "It is totally unprecedented to have a pirate site operating so openly for so long," said Neil Turkewitz, executive vice president of the Recording Industry Association of America, who is based in Washington ... AllofMP3.com says on the site that it can legally sell to any user based in Russia and warns foreign users to verify the legality within their countries for themselves. The site features a wide selection of Russian music, but is written in English with prices listed in United States dollars."
Actually, there's Russian AOMP3 site: http://account.allofmp3.com/shares/setencode.html? changeencode_mss=RUS
The prices are 1/10 the iTunes rates, and while the article doesn't say, it would seem allofmp3 has no contract or agreement to sell these tracks.
No, they have a compulsory license based on russian law. They pay a pittance to some collection agency and in return operate legally, not in violation of russian copyright law. Sure, the RIAA are getting their panties in a bunch and it's a pretty huge loophole, but currently it's not illegal. That's why they're changing the law this autumn.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Is it legal to download music from AllOFMP3.com? The availability over the Internet of the ALLOFMP3.com materials is authorized by the license # LS-3?-05-03 of the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) and license # 006/3M-05 of the Rightholders Federation for Collective Copyright Management of Works Used Interactively (FAIR). In accordance to the licenses' terms MediaServices pays license fees for all materials downloaded from the site subject to the Law of the Russian Federation "On Copyright and Related Rights". All these materials are solely for personal use. Any further distribution, resale or broadcasting are prohibited. The works available from ALLOFMP3.com are protected by the Law of the Russian Federation "On Copyright and Related Rights" and are for personal use of a buyer. Commercial use of such material is prohibited. Recording, copying, distribution on any media is possible only upon special consent of a Rightholder. The user bears sole responsibility for any use and distribution of all materials received from AllOFMP3.com. This responsibility is dependent on the national legislation in each user's country of residence. The Administration of AllOFMP3.com does not possess information on the laws of each particular country and is not responsible for the actions of foreign users. http://music.allofmp3.com/help/help.shtml?help=on# top
I remember reading a website published by the canadian authorities detailing their conclusions regarding the DMCA and the filesharing debate in general.
It is highly unlikely they will adopt such laws for the forseeable future, as this website basically said "yeah we know theyre lying their asses off"
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
That's the same site, you're just instructing it to quit autodetecting your language preferences and use Russian.
You get the same thing from the beginning if your browser indicates it's in russian.
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Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
Thats because theres no such place. You just made it up.
You must think we're stupid.
Not that I have a problem with it, either. Wonders of globalisation in action... =)
Amnesty International has released the following statements:
In 2003, 80 percent of all known executions took place in China. In China, limited and incomplete records available to Amnesty International at the end of the year indicated that at least 726 people were executed, but the true figure was believed to be much higher: a senior Chinese legislator suggested in March 2004 that China executes "nearly 10,000" people each year. At least 108 executions were carried out in Iran. Sixty-five people were executed in the USA. At least 64 people were executed in Vietnam.
"In China - the country that accounts for around 80% of all executions - a person can be sentenced and executed for as many as 68 crimes, including non-violent crimes such as tax fraud, embezzlement and drug offences. 1,770 executions were reportedly carried out in China during 2005. However, a Chinese legal expert was recently quoted as stating the true figure for executions is more like 8,000."
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
Me, I'm not the one arguing for anything short of abolition of copyright. But I can understand why people support allofmp3 and such websites, and it is really simple: they put a pressure on "legal" distribution channels to drop the price to more reasonable levels. Piracy is also good for the same reason. Morally, I don't have problem with either. Legally, allompf3 is okay. What else matters?