[Caipirabob]

I recommend people go to the site and read the many articles available.

It seems that a great effort is going underway to shut down ALLOFMP3.COM. Who knows what the legal implications will be for the users and my buddy (he's a lib, but a good guy if you believe this is possible.) He got me curious and I've done a bit of initial research.

Now I'd like to cast the question into the great pool of knowledge and wisdom and occasional yahoos like myself that is FR...

So what do y'all think?

[SamAdams76]

This site is legal - in Russia. Royalties are set aside but no U.S recording label has bothered to pick the royalties up, out of fear that doing so would "legitimize" the site and put them out of favor with the RIAA.

The irony is that despite the much lower price of the music, recording artists stand to make more royalties then they do in the USA.

So the RIAA is pissed. They wouldn't be able to keep 94% of the money for themselves like they do over here. Despite towering prices for music over here ($15.98 for a CD that costs pennies to make), the average recording act only sees a fraction of that. Which is why they feel compelled to tour constantly and charge $80 for tickets.

What's even better about ALLOFMP3.com is that the music you download is free of DRM. Once downloaded, it is yours to do with as you will.

[dennisw]

I was paranoid about giving them credit card information otherwise I would have used allofMP3 a few times. I wuz tempted

What's far more interesting is that the USA is very concerned about this dipshit allofMP3 website which at the most is making $20,000,000 off US customers. While the same Bush administration could care less about the 800 billion dollar trade deficits we rack up annually. Shows how much pull the RIAA/Hollywood scum have in Washington DC. BTW Microsoft's VISTA will make it near impossible to play hacked music video and DVD.

[Hoplite]

Been here, done this...

ROMS, (Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems) gives licenses to Russian companies like Allofmp3.com to distribute content which they have laid claim to, without the owner's consent, in effect expropriating property and licensing the right to sell that stolen property to Russian firms.

Licenses given by ROMS "allow using of all works and objects of related rights only in the form provided by such licenses, and are given on behalf of all owners of copyright and related rights, including those who have not given their authority to the organization" (Section 2 of Article 45 of the Law of Russian Federation on Copyright and Related Rights). source

In short, legalized theft.

[kingu]

The question is if you're committing a crime by shopping at AllofMP3.com's website. The answer is no. It is a legitimate business in Russia. It is operating within the laws of Russia, and you, as a customer, are in compliance with United States law in making purchases.

If there is a question as to the legitimacy of Russian law, that is not an issue for a consumer to worry about. That's up for others to decide and debate about. You made a purchase, you imported the music from your purchase, and the implied license that came with that importation, allowing you to do whatever you please with it.

Meanwhile, I'm also a subscriber to Yahoo Music Engine - I have a two year (buy one, get one free, when paying with Mastercard, check the website for the ad, you have to purchase through that link..) $120 for two years, plays on my Axim, iRiver and Creative players for mobile use, or streaming from most any computer.

If the music companies theories are correct, if I take my music player out of the country, I am committing grand theft and international piracy. They're wrong.

[L.N. Smithee]

I tried the site when Drudge linked to it a few months back. I tried to use my Visa card, and it wouldn't accept my three-digit code. I finally gave up, and the next morning, I couldn't use my card to pay for parking at work. It had been flagged by Visa after too many attempts.

Seems kinda hinky to me. I haven't gone back, even though the prices are temptin' gazelle.

[prisoner6]

This has been a subject of discussion over at dl.tv...the site webcasts a twice a week program with patrick Norton ( ex -"The Screensavers" on Tech TV, and Robert Heron.

IIRC the consenus was that the site is legal (in Russia) and US citizens are at the moment legal in shopping there. There WAS some problem with the credit card stuff, but I don't recall just what.

The programs are archived so you should be able to go to dl.tv and look it up.

FWIW there's also thepiratebay.org for bit torrent stuff.

prisoner6

[MarMema]

As Russia pushes for entrance into the World Trade Organization, the controversy regarding AllofMP3.com threatens to derail American approval.

Give me heck, America. Keep Russia out of the WTO.

[Caipirabob]

BUMP!

[CharlieOK1]

I have been trying to add money to my balance for the past few days, but their credit card dealie isn't working. I need to replenish my balance!

[FReepaholic]

Russian music download site sends defiant message to US

[vargan]

End of story: Visa, MasterCard Won't Accept Charges From Russian Music Web Site Without CC payments AllofMP3 will go bankrupt soon. Anyway (this is for MarMema), i hope that shutdown of AllofMP3 will not lead to our WTO accession, since i don't believe in any benifits of WTO, as it favors only transnational corporations and countries with established practice of subsidies to local producers. Russia can live without it, our producers, and especially, agriculture, are on the rise.