The world political pressure is on for Russia's leadership, primarily Mr. Putin, to put a stop to the bargain basement priced, AllofMP3.com digital music distribution site. It seems that Russia will be left out in the cold, black-balled by the World Trade Organization if they don't. The website known for selling music by the byte sans any sort of DRM, is being mentioned as a bargaining chip in the acceptance process.
Up until now, the laws in that country were not written in a way that would allow frustrated copyright holders to gain any traction in the Russian court system. In Russia, in order to be punished for piracy, you need to be peddling a physical product. A so-called corporeal work. The definition of the word "corporeal" means: Of a material nature; tangible. At least in the eyes of one Russian legal mind, back in march of 2005, this meant AllofMp3 is operating in a legal loophole. Digital files weren't included in the law.
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An Allofmp3 spokesman local media: "Susan Schwab markets us so effectively - she could already be our press secretary." A spokeswoman for Allofmp3's holding company MediaServices, Ilya Levitov, told AFP: "We announce on our website to every user that he or she should check the laws of the country in which he lives." |
While the comment is probably funny, concerning all the publicity that Susan Schwab is generating for AllofMP3, I doubt the tittering will last much longer. The second statement made in the quote is also key to ponder as well. While it may be technically legal to sell copyrighted music music over the Internet in Russia, in the way it is being done at AllofMP3, it's legality elsewhere around the world would certainly be in question. It is easy to know this is the case, as the website can sell music that no one else can offer, such as the entire works of the Beatles. Apparently in Russia, things are indeed a bit different.
Whether or not it's a good idea to support a website, that is profiting from the sale of someone else's works, without permission, regardless of what the "laws" say in their country, is a personal matter also. We have been told in our forums by content creators, that artists would probably rather their music was traded freely over P2P, than to see someone profit from it. To them, it merely adds insult to injury.
At any rate, the site has become quite large, second only to iTunes in the UK. So, possibly this is why the political/economic spotlight has been adjusted to their direction. It's a well known fact, Mr. Putin has set a personal goal, for his country to join the WTO. So, we will see if he meets this goal soon and whether it is with or without AllofMP3.com in tow. For the whole story, please visit The Register.
Source: The Register
