MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- A Russian Web site that lets visitors download albums for less than $1 is a smash hit with music fans -- but not with U.S. trade and music industry officials.Source: CNN
If this was Slashdot, this would be filed under the no-shit-sherlock department.
Side Note: Is it just me, or did Slashdot lose its old school edge with the redesign?
Anyways... Stephanie sent this link to me the other day. I do hope she comments again soon. Maybe I need to get Matt to write a piece that she will really get pissed off at. That should do it.
Allofmp3.com is no stranger to problems. I wrote about them here and here. The Russian prosecutors could not touch them, they got off on a loophole.
I thought the party was over in February 2005. The US government and the RIAA have had Allofmp3.com on their radar for a couple years now. But they have not been able to do a thing about it.
The most absurd part of this latest wrinkle is this quote: "They say it presents a direct obstacle to Russia's negotiations to join the World Trade Organization." Huh? Since when has Russia ever cared about copyright or intellectual property? And what kind of overblown threat is that?
I predict the site will still be up for some time to come. Oh, and by the way, Allofmp3.com has beta app called allTunes, and it is pretty damn nice.
Thanks for the link, Steph.
