Is allofmp3 illegal?
When Russian downloading website allofmp3.com went offline for a couple of days last month, I speculated that it might be because of pressure from the recording industry in the West. Now, the record companies have come out and launched a full-scale attack on the site - which accounts for 14% of all downloads in the UK. Here's BPI spokesman Matt Phillips:
The argument here appears to be that allofmp3 is wrong because it's cheap - a legal argument that wouldn't last long in court, but can be bandied about freely in a press release.
Indeed, the argument holds even less water if you consider the exchange rate. The average cost of a single on allofmp3 is 4p - amazingly cheap for those of us in the West, but not such a bargain in Russia, where the average monthly salary for a teacher is around £55.
To provide a direct comparison: A UK worker earning the average salary of £2850pm could download 3607 tracks from itunes, if they were taken by the urge. A Russian worker on the average salary could download around 1375 songs from allofmp3. In other words, the site is more expensive than it's Western counterparts.
The music industry's big concern seems to be that they can't control where people are getting their music from. They want price protection - like they've always had on physical imports. This is completely understandable: low prices mean low profits and the record companies would end up with much less money to spend oncoke and whores finding new acts.
But this opening salvo in the campaign against allofmp3 is disengenuous. As I mentioned last month, no-one really knows whether the site is illegal or not (read my previous article for more detail). To suggest that people are breaking the law is a scare tactic -- notice that the BPI have stated they won't be suing users of the site.
Furthermore, the BBC reported last month that Russian authorities have cleared allofmp3 against allegations of copyright infringement. For their part, allofmp3 have declined to speak to the media, even when the New York Times tracked down the site's owners.
This is clearly going to rumble on for quite some time - and it would be nice to see a little more honesty from all the concerned parties. In the meantime, I'd say it's safe to keep using the site without having your pants sued off.
BBC report on the BPI's claims
Earlier BBBC report, which says allofmp3 is legal
The New York Times gives the US side of the story
No Rock & Roll Fun employ humour more successfully than me
"There is no doubt it is totally illegal... Because it is a professionally put together site it does look legitimate, although it should be obvious from the price that it isn't."
The argument here appears to be that allofmp3 is wrong because it's cheap - a legal argument that wouldn't last long in court, but can be bandied about freely in a press release.
Indeed, the argument holds even less water if you consider the exchange rate. The average cost of a single on allofmp3 is 4p - amazingly cheap for those of us in the West, but not such a bargain in Russia, where the average monthly salary for a teacher is around £55.
To provide a direct comparison: A UK worker earning the average salary of £2850pm could download 3607 tracks from itunes, if they were taken by the urge. A Russian worker on the average salary could download around 1375 songs from allofmp3. In other words, the site is more expensive than it's Western counterparts.
The music industry's big concern seems to be that they can't control where people are getting their music from. They want price protection - like they've always had on physical imports. This is completely understandable: low prices mean low profits and the record companies would end up with much less money to spend on
But this opening salvo in the campaign against allofmp3 is disengenuous. As I mentioned last month, no-one really knows whether the site is illegal or not (read my previous article for more detail). To suggest that people are breaking the law is a scare tactic -- notice that the BPI have stated they won't be suing users of the site.
Furthermore, the BBC reported last month that Russian authorities have cleared allofmp3 against allegations of copyright infringement. For their part, allofmp3 have declined to speak to the media, even when the New York Times tracked down the site's owners.
This is clearly going to rumble on for quite some time - and it would be nice to see a little more honesty from all the concerned parties. In the meantime, I'd say it's safe to keep using the site without having your pants sued off.
posted by mrdiscopop at 7:36 PM
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