Moscow (Russia) – The Russian government has finally forced Allofmp3.com – basically the Russian version of iTunes - to shut down.  This ends a two year saga in which the United States and the World Trade Organization both urged the nation to take a firm stance against music and video piracy.  The victory was short-lived because an almost identical website, created by the same owners of Allofmp3.com, has sprung up as a replacement.

Russian company Mediaservices Inc. created Allofmp3.com approximately seven years ago and the online music store has sold millions of songs for very cheap prices – an average song costs about 10 to 20 cents each.  In comparison, iTunes songs are generally 99 cents each.

Of course you can imagine what the RIAA and major music labels thought about this.  In December 2006, the RIAA filed a $1.6 trillion dollar lawsuit against Mediaservices, but the suit was largely ignored because American lawsuits have almost no reach against Russian companies.

Mediaservices argues that it is a legal company because it pays royalties to the Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems (ROMS) which is basically the Russian version of SoundExchange in the United States.  The problem is that the major labels don’t recognize ROMS and have refused to accept any payment from the organization.

While Allofmp3.com may be down for the count, Mediaservices has made an almost identical website called mp3sparks.com where the songs are even cheaper at 15 cents each.

HAHA

Jul 03, 2007 06:22     

I've never heard of these sites, anybody ever try one of these sites out? I might have to take a look at mp3sparks.com, but why even pay 15 cents a song when I can download them for free? I wonder why the RIAA and all the major music labels just didn't shut down access from the US to Allofmp3.com? They shouldn't have even bothered with a $1.6 trillion lawsuit, just petition the government for the website to be blocked by the US. China does it all the time for their citizens, they block wikipedia and all kinds of other sites....especially ones that speak out against communism. But I guess if the US blocked a website, there would outrage probably among people.

Jason report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

This is a sad day.

Jul 03, 2007 06:46     

Yet another website that offers cheap legal downloads is shutdown because there to cheap and dont bow down and take it from the RIAA and MPAA. AND...$1.6 trillon LOL, the RIAA really think they that they have anything close to that sum of money. AND..The RIAA wonder why people pirate music when prices resemble highway robbery! $35 for the new NiN album no thx.
shargrath report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Russian rocks

Jul 03, 2007 07:52     

I've used Russian sites for many years and they kick butt. Cheap songs, great quality and I've never had any problem. I use www.gomusic.ru
John Doe report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re: this is a sad day

Jul 03, 2007 07:54     

This is not a legal website or it wouldn't be forced to shutdown.
TomWaddle report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Great

Jul 03, 2007 07:56     

Allofmp3.com was a good site till the US stopped allowing our banks to pay them. I had to stop using them about a year ago because VISA and Mastercard wouldnt pay them so the website stopped accepting them as payment to refill my account balance. I believe they still accept Discover card though.
Derek report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

But what about the starving artists?

Jul 03, 2007 08:15     

Ultimately the musicians are the ones that come up short here either way. Steal the songs or pay the piper? I still buy my music the old fashoned way; on CD from Amazon, etc.
Shaun report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

lol russians

Jul 03, 2007 10:20     

lol at our money greedy music indistry. I thought we invented music to keep us from getting bored, not to make billions by over charging for it.
Joz report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

lmao

Jul 03, 2007 12:10     

that should be allofmp3.ru, NOT allofmp3.com ... kinda sux to see such a great service go down... I was downloading stuff like crazy from there
great zoltalar report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

But the alternatives

Jul 03, 2007 14:54     

There are 15 other sites out there that profess to be the next AllOfMP3 replacement. There are reviews of over a dozen of these sites at http://www.songboom.com - it's worth checking out. What a victory: a single domain isn't responding anymore, but it has moved and owns other sites. If the RIAA sees this as a win, then they've truly become disparate.
songboom report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

re:Starving artists???

Jul 04, 2007 09:09     

If you think for one second that any of this has anything to do with protecting the artists, you are way too gullible. This is ALL about the labels protecting THEIR pockets. PERIOD. Labels are the scum of the earth. You need to go read "the problem with Music" by Steve Albini. Goggle it!
Pat report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Why use Russian mp3 sites?

Jul 05, 2007 09:22     

Russia won't shutdown its sites because they are legal within the borders of their own country. And any attempt to block them by American ISPs is a futile effort. Even though allofmp3.org is down, it will reappear again under a different domain, a different company, and a different IP address. Why pay to use these services? Because they have a huge, stable catalog of music. Also, the mp3 files are encoded at 192 bps or higher. That means they have better quality than the 128 bps free files you get from peer-to-peer networks. I use allofmp3.org, deposit $50, and get tracks for 11 cents apiece, and they're great. My only complaint is that the Russkies don't know about American country music, and offer very little in that genre. So, I can't find Dwight Yoakam CDs and other country favorites. The rock, progressive, and electronica selections are rich, lots to pick from.

Nate report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

RIAA isn't gonna win

Jul 06, 2007 14:32     

There is no way RIAA can win all the legal battles against the illegal MP3 sites because there are too many of them. Until RIAA actually goes after the individuals for illegal downloads of MP3s people will continue to do what they have been doing for years. Most of them went legit when songs are priced at 99 cents each and $1.50 for non-DRM songs but some still go around the system. Maybe if they dropped the price to like 75 cents they may sell more songs. Who knows. Darkk

Darkk report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0