By Chris Williams for The
Register.
This story has been reproduced with permission.
MediaServices, the combative firm behind the site, is still
selling cut-price music however, meaning the international legal
posturing is set to continue.
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which had
won the right to sue AllofMP3 in the UK, told The
Reg this morning it was unsure how the shutdown would affect
its legal attack.
BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said: "The reported closure of
AllofMP3 is welcome news, and another important step for the
recording industry as we seek to direct consumers away from illegal
online services towards the many legal alternatives."
The Times reports that a former employee of
MediaServices, which was condemned as a music pirate by the
recording industry and US government, confirmed that the site was
"quietly" downed by the Kremlin last week. It has disappeared and
resurfaced several times before, however.
The BPI, along with international affiliates, has long charged
that MediaServices is operating as a music pirate. US trade
representatives said last October that AllofMP3 was a bar to Russia
entry to the World Trade Organisation, although a deal paving the
way for its membership was inked in November after Vladimir Putin
promised
action.
The battle is surely set to continue for the music business.
MediaServices owns a similar site, allTunes.com, which is still
available. In April, the firm began encouraging AllofMP3 users to
switch to a new site called MP3Sparks.com, which says it is owned
by a firm called Regiontorg. MP3Sparks uses the same claims to
legality as AllofMP3 did, and an identical interface, which
contained references to AllofMP3 when it launched. All three sites
punt tracks for between about $0.10 and $0.20 each.
MediaServices has always argued that it pays royalties from its
cut-price tracks to Russian collection societies, which Western
music bodies counter do not represent them.
MediaServices says Russian intellectual property laws mean the
societies don't need the permission of copyright owners. Taylor
said today: "We appeal to UK music fans to stay away from these
illegal Russian sites, which are unlicensed parasites that make no
investment in music and do not pay royalties to the artists
concerned. True music fans should not support them".
© The Register
2007
