RIAA wins $10 million in suit against Puretunes

October 26, 2004

The Recording
Industry Association of America has settled a multimillion dollar suit
against four individuals and a holding company responsible for
offering MP3's for pennies. Although Puretunes was not online that long and
even though they said they had aquired rights to sell the music, the RIAA
disagreed and filed suit in short order.

RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a statement. "It's essential for
the integrity and security of the legitimate online music marketplace that
imposters like Puretunes.com are held accountable."

Some of
these sites are still operating, however. One widely used Russian site,
AllOfMP3, offers users the ability to pay by the size of their download.
Customers are offered 500 megabytes of music--about 100 songs--for $5, for
example. Another Spanish company called WebListen.com, very similar to
Puretunes, is online, despite having been sued.

Former Grokster President Wayne Rosso, who
helped market the Puretunes service through his peer-to-peer application,
is named in the RIAA settlement. He said he was never an owner and that
the RIAA was unfair to target people who thought they were obeying the
law.

Well, this is interesting at how the RIAA is able to sue a
Spanish company. I wonder if they will have much clout over in Russia? You may
wish to read the rest of the article over at C|Net. Any legal minds out
there?

Source: C|Net