[Infowarrior] - US and Russia strike deal to close AllofMP3.com

[Richard Forno]

US and Russia strike deal to close AllofMP3.com

Jeroen Doorn, WebWereld Netherlands - IDG News Service 2 hours, 27 minutes
ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/macworld/20061129/tc_macworld/allofmp320061129

Russia has agreed to U.S. demands to close the popular music website
Allofmp3.com. The U.S. wants the site closed to fight music piracy, and
Russia has agreed to improve its chance of gaining membership of the
World Trade Organization (WTO).

Russia is also intending to close down other websites that infringe
copyrights, according to a document on the website of the U.S. Trade
Representative.

The U.S. and Russia have agreed to combat piracy by closing down several
websites that infringe copyrights, according to the document, which cites
Allofmp3.com as a prime example of such a website.

The popular site has been subject to criticism for some time now.
Organizations such as the International Federation of the Phonographic
Industry (IFPI) have accused Allofmp3.com several times of being a prime
source of music piracy. A U.S. Trade Representative, Susan Schwab, has
stated previously that Russia can never be a member of the WTO as long as
the county hosts sites such as Allofmp3.com.

The team behind Allofmp3.com has always denied running an illegal website.
They pay fees to the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) which
supposedly represents artists and copyright holders in Russia. Artists
themselves state they have never received any money from ROMS.

There is fierce international pressure on the Russian government to close
down Allofmp3.com. Prices of songs on the website are about one-tenth the
price in other music stores such as Apple¹s iTunes store.