FTC to seek refunds for members of MP3downloadcity.com

October 20, 2005

The Federal Trade Commission has barred MP3downloadcity.com from suggesting
that their $24.95 tutorial and referral service can enable a
user to legally download copyrighted music files, video games and "movies
still in theaters." In addition, they are going to persue refunds for anyoe that
felt they were misled by the website.

A
temporary restraining order was issued Sept. 27 by the U.S. District Court
for the Central District of California. The FTC is seeking to make the ban
permanent, negotiate refunds for consumers who feel they were misled, and
require that the defendant notify people who use the service about legal
consequences of sharing copyrighted material.

The FTC charged that the Web service
advertised on Web sites and sent out misleading claims like: "Best of all,
people are not getting sued for using our software. Yes! It is 100 percent
legal" and "Download and Watch DVDs and Movies Still in Theaters."

The commission said thousands of consumers
have bought the service, which is a tutorial with referrals to free
file-sharing software programs like those from Kazaa and Grokster Ltd.

Myricks' site itself claimed Wednesday that
"Napster's Number One Replacement Software is Back!" and "Now You Can
Burn, Download MP3s, and Make CD's Free."

The report goes on stating that MP3downloadcity.com
legal representation has claimed it's "difficult" for small companies to
follow the rapidly changing laws that govern evolving technologies. "When you
have the small companies without the aid of expert advice on intellectual
property interests, then they get confused and they go awry,"

Yep, it went awry allright. But, one thing that's
for sure, ignorance of the law in the United States will not hold up as a
defense in court. Just ask the 14,800 private citizens that have
already been targeted by the RIAA.

Source: AP News My Way