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15:51 22Feb2005 RTRS-Russia mulls action against MP3 website-trade group
By Adam Pasick
LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Russian prosecutors are considering filing criminal charges against a website that offers cheap music downloads, the music industry's global trade group said on Tuesday.
The computer crimes unit of the Moscow City Police submitted the results of its investigation of Allofmp3.com to the Moscow City Prosecutor's office on Feb. 8, according to the London-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
The prosecutor has 30 days to decide whether to proceed with a criminal prosecution.
Unlike the market-leading iTunes online music store, Allofmp3.com (http://www.allofmp3.com) offers music in the popular MP3 format without software known as digital rights management to prevent unlimited copying.
Songs only cost about 5 cents each, compared with 99 cents from most services in the United States, and it offers music from groups such as the Beatles that have not given permission for their songs to be sold online.
The site claims on its website to be legal because it pays a fee to a copyright group that represents songwriters, the Russian Organisation for Multimedia and Digital Systems.
In most countries, payments must also be made to artists and record labels, but Allofmp3 says it is exempt because of what it calls a "loophole" in Russian law.
"We have consistently said that Allofmp3.com is not licensed to distribute our members' repertoire in Russia or anywhere else," said Igor Pozhitkov, Regional Director of IFPI Moscow.
Allofmp3.com did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The confusing tangle of rights, which are licensed differently in every country, has slowed the global roll-out of legitimate online music stores such as iTunes and Napster.
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Новость для стримительных мр3 кочальщиков (англ.).... -- Beaverage -- 22.02.05@15:58 (Чит.: 210)