AllofMP3.com safe… for now
Thanks to rampant post-communist-societal corruption the
proper upholding of fair use statutes abroad, it looks like the Moscow City Police Computer Crimes division or the IFPI
will not be going after AllofMP3.com after all. So it turns out that (brace yourself, Americans)
Russian law apparently has strict delineation in standards of the sale of physical goods and the sale of IP, making
litigation against AllofMP3.com nigh
impossible so long as they're paying their dues, so to speak. However, the site is still left open to civil lawsuits
made by labels and record companies if they can prove the site hasn't been making its required mandatory "payments" to
music licensees. We have a feeling the paper trail's at least a mile long, though, so let the downloading, er,
continue! Can't you just see Mitch Bainwol screaming "Curse you!" into the thundery night from the RIAA skyscraper on
high?
[Via TechDirt]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
wille @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Just to make things clear (I don't know if the comment about the IFPI beeing like the FBI was a joke or not).
IFPI is not like the american FBI. It's more like the worldwide version of the RIAA.
"IFPI represents the recording industry worldwide with over 1450 members in 75 countries and affiliated industry associations in 48 countries."
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/about/mission.html
RickP in AZ @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
Funniest strike-though ever!
Patrick Grote @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
The first link doesn't work for me. Did you mean this:
http://moskalyuk.com/blog/allofmp3com-escapes-criminal-lawsuit-for-now/475
teksno @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
the IFPI is not the riaa of russia....
the Russian Organization for Multimedia and digital Systems is....or ROMS....read the link below. i wish i could take credit for finding it but i cant...its got great info on it though.
http://www.museekster.com/allofmp3faq.htm#Is%20Allofmp3%20legal?
chuck @ Dec 19th 2005 1:04AM
As I have written in my news tip (you chose to ignore) its a technicality. No Russian law mentions the internet, therefore transmission via internet does not lead to creation of a copy (legal or illegal). All Russian copyright laws deal with illegal COPIES. No copy == no crime. So effectively the guys at allofmp3.com do not make copies of the songs and sell them, but rather provide access for the masses to the music. Which is perfectly legal according to Russian law.