AllofMP3 to Apple: Take THAT!

[Damion Chaplin]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060330-6493.html' target='_blank'>http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060330-6493.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Allofmp3.com, the apparently-legal-under-Russian-law yet-not-quite-legitimate-anywhere music download site, has moved a tiny step closer to becoming a full-featured competitor for iTMS with the development of its allTunes software. Although still in beta form, allTunes (the name of which, I'm sure, bears only a coincidental resemblance to iTunes) allows users to scan the Allofmp3.com database, download and purchase songs, and play them. Sound familiar? For those who haven't heard much about it, Allofmp3.com is a Russian site offering music downloads for much lower prices and optionally higher quality than are available elsewhere. A song downloaded from Allofmp3.com might cost 9¢ for a bit rate of 192Kb/s, with a price of US$1.50 for the whole album. In comparison, iTMS would cost 99¢ at lower-quality 128Kb/s, and the whole album would be priced at US$9.99."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/logo_general.gif" /> <br /><br />I had a friend who jumped on the AllofMP3 wagon when it was first introduced. When he told me about it, I remember thinking "That sure won't last." Well, thus far they've managed to dodge the litigation beast, mostly due to their location. At the risk of being proven wrong again, I have to think that their release of software that directly competes with iTunes will only draw attention to them again and will just cause Apple to sight their guns on them... What do you think? Brilliant strategy or brilliant blunder?

[Jason Dunn]

AllofMP3 is just a legal loophole because Russian law has no provisions for protecting intellectual property, so this will "flourish" because the laws haven't been changed yet (to my knowledge). And there's really nothing Apple can do other than to lobby the Russian government to make changes to their laws.

What really gets me upset are the people who think that AllofMP3.com is somehow legal because hey, they're paying for the music and they think that 1 cent a song is just a really good deal. :roll:

[Damion Chaplin]

Agreed. As mentioned in the article, AllofMP3 is at the very best gray-market importing.

In fact, it's much worse than 'free' P2P sites 'cause they at least know it's not legal. AllofMP3 is giving you illegal files and charging you for them. Even if it's just 1 cent, why would anyone pay for a file that is just as illegal as one from The Pirate Bay?

The loophole that AllofMP3 is utililizing is the part in Russian copyright law that says the law applies to physically-transferred media. It has no provision for data-only transactions. And all Apple can do is lobby the US goverment to lobby the Russian government, so yes, I may be a while 'till they're brought down.

[makicr]

Jason, you are not entirely correct.

Russian copyright legislation allows phonograms to be performed publicly without the authorization of the copyright owner for broadcasting and cable transmission. (Article 39) The Internet could be deemed to fall under this exemption. The copyrights involved have to be paid to a collecting society. This is the 'loophole' that is referred to in several articles on Allofmp3.

An English translation of the Russian copyright legislation can be found at www.copyrighter.ru

Allofmp3 has signed agreements for this with Russian Organization for Multimedia &amp; Digital Systems (ROMS). According to license № ЛС-ЗМ-02-36 the Internet-project www.allofmp3.com, has the right to use musical compositions by providing downloads. Under the license agreement Allofmp3 pays out fees to ROMS for downloaded materials that are subject to the Russian Federation Copyright And Related Rights Law.

ROMS manages intellectual rights in the Russian Federation. All third party distributors licensed by ROMS are required to pay a portion of the revenue to the ROMS. ROMS in turn, is obligated to pay most of that money (aside from small portion it needs for operating expenses) to artists. Both Russian and foreign.

Another thing to note is that in Russia, the US Dollar equivalent for the ost of a new CD is about $3. When you consider that this in only double the cost of a disk on ALLMP3, it seems a bit more reasonable. This just shows how inflated US CD costs are.

[Jason Dunn]

Jason, you are not entirely correct.

All due respect, but I think everything you quoted is a bunch of BS - there's just no way that the artists are getting paid by what AllofMP3.com is doing. 1 cent per track just doesn't allow for profit sharing with artists, and don't you think the owners of the music should have some say in what it's sold for? Allofmp3.com exists through immoral legal loopholes, nothing more. I was in St. Petersburg, Russia, for a week in 2003 and everything I saw was pirated. That's just part of their culture and is accepted as normal - but to see AllofMP3.com try to rationalize it and claim it's legitimate is morally repugnant.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm not going to believe that AllofMP3.com is legitimate until I read about a music label working directly with them, or the RIAA giving their blesing.

[aristoBrat]

AllofMP3 is giving you illegal files and charging you for them.
Following the letter of the law, how are AllofMP3 files illegal?

Immoral perhaps (to Jason's point), but I haven't seen anything that indicates that they're illegal.

[Jason Dunn]

Following the letter of the law, how are AllofMP3 files illegal?

Well first off, none of us are lawyers or experts in Russian copyright law. But let's go back to the source: where is Allofmp3.com getting the music from? They're probably buying CDs from North American markets and ripping them, right? So right there at the source, something's fishy: I somehow doubt the copyright owners allow someone to rip a CD and then SELL the contents.

As has been pointed out many times before, AllofMP3.com isn't doing anything illegal according to Russian law, but when someone outside Russia pays 1 cent for a Dave Matthews Band song, it sure as hell isn't any more legitimate than getting it off a torrent or P2P service.

Just because something is legal doesn't make it moral.

[aristoBrat]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allofmp3

[Damion Chaplin]

From that Wikipedia entry:

"By analogy, just because cocaine is legal in country A does not mean that it would necessarily be legal to bring it into or create it in country B. The laws of country B must be looked to."

and

"...appears possible that "importing" digital files from AllOfMP3.com does not constitute copyright infringement but does constitute a violation of customs law."

The ONLY reason why this is not considered illegal yet is because thus far, both the Russian copyright law and the US import customs law both refer to tangible objects, which downloaded data is not. It's really splitting hairs if you ask me and it won't stay in a gray area for long with them directly competing with iTunes... At least if Apple has anything to say about it...

[Jason Dunn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allofmp3

VERY interesting reading. Thanks! I should have known there would have been an entry...

[aristoBrat]

At least if Apple has anything to say about it...
I'm surprised that the RIAA isn't all over this. With all of the lobbying that they've done so far, I think they'd stand a much better chance of getting the import law changed than Apple would.

[lorienferris]

One slight correction on an interesting article: Apple uses 128kbs AAC compression which is a variety of MP4, a superior format to MP3. IMO, music compressed in this format is at least equal in sound quality to 192kbs MP3. But there is no arguing with the price difference, that's for sure!

[sub_tex]

AllofMP3 has the holy grail of online downloads though: support for EVERY codec and user definable bitrates.

You just can't beat that. Being able to buy a 100% lossless copy in FLAC format is a dream.

Personally I just wish eMusic would offer Q7 ogg as an option along with mp3. eMusic is the store to beat for me. They're the only game in town with non-DRM music that's legal.