Cheap MP3 site under pressure to close

The US has told Russia that if it doesn’t close down a website selling cheap MP3s it will oppose the former Soviet state’s membership of the World Trade Organisation. Russia-based MP3 download site AllOfMP3.com has been accused of violating copyright laws by selling music without permission and not paying any royalties. According to technology company Ovum, the site been around for some time, and is “hugely popular with many consumers”. In the UK it is the second-most popular download source behind iTunes. Many albums on the service are sold for less than a pound. Ovum said that the service contends that it is legal as it pays royalties to the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS), but “while this may be true in Russia, its legality in other countries is less clear, and increased pressure from the US around Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation makes it likely that AllOfMP3 will soon be forced to shut down.” Web users has flocked to the site due to its low prices and flexibility – users can download songs at a variety of bit-rates and in a variety of file formats. Downloads are priced per-MB rather than at a flat rate, giving users far more choice - they can pay more for a high-quality track, or less for a low-quality version. UPDATE: AllOfMP3.com has made a statement: 1. The site AllOfMP3.com belongs to a Russian company and for 6 years it has operated within the country, in full compliance with all Russian laws. Throughout this period the various government offices have scrutinized site's legality and have not found any breach of the law. So far there has been no decision by any Russian court contesting the site's legality. 2. The Russian site AllOfMP3.com is not operating or advertising its business on the territory of other countries. 3. The site AllOfMP3.com does regularly transfer substantial amounts of royalties to the Russian organizations for collective management of rights such as ROMS and FAIR, which have granted the site licenses to legally deliver music through the Internet. 4. The site AllofMP3.com reserves the right to take all steps necessary to protect its business reputation. We call upon everyone to take a thorough and unbiased view of the site's legality. 5. On September 1, 2006 the changes to the Russian copyright legislation will come into force. Since January 2006 the site has been making direct agreements with rightholders and authors at the same time increasing the price of the music compositions and transferring the royalties directly to the artists and record companies. The aim of AllofMP3.com is to agree with all rightholders on the prices and royalties amounts by September 1, 2006. 6. We believe in the long term and civilized business based on respecting the law, considering the customers' demands as well as the interests of both national and international rightholders. http://www.allomp3.com