July 3, 2007 at 13:41Allofmp3.com permanently closed
The saga of AllofMP3.com seems to be drawing to a close. The flagship of the Russian "piracy" has become a victim of its popularity. AllofMP3.com managed to enter the list of the largest music online stores in the world (in the UK it came in second place after iTunes). The audience was about 5.5 million subscribers who paid from 10 to 20 cents for each musical composition. The AllofMP3.com site was created in 2000 by six programmers for personal use, and in 2006 the turnover grew to $ 30 million per year.
Now the Americans have finally achieved the final closure of this site, although dozens of similar Russian resources continue to operate. But they are unlikely to be able to repeat the amazing success of AllofMP3.com.
Recall that exactly a year ago, in June 2006, it became known thatthe agreement reached by the US and Russian authorities in the negotiations on Russia's accession to the WTO. As it turned out, one of the conditions the Americans set the fight against piracy, and specifically - the solution to the problem with collective rights management societies and the closure of the AllolofMP3.com website and similar sites. Details of all the conditions were listed in a special memorandum, which was signed in November 2006 and leaked to the Network .
Under pressure from the Americans, the largest Visa and MasterCard processing systems soon stopped accepting payments to AllofMP3.com . It became known about the lawsuits that are initiated by Western copyright holders against the site owner, MediaServices .
And finally, it happened. AllofMP3.com shut down last week. Americans are happy, as is MediaServices, which moved the store to a new domain .
The new site looks exactly the same as its predecessor, and offers thousands of songs from the albums of the most popular artists. The price for one song is about 15 cents. The management of MediaServices believes that the activities of the new site are absolutely legal. Moreover, the company said that in addition to 15% of contributions to the licensed community, it is ready to pay an additional 5% directly to music artists, although this is not provided for in the terms of the license agreement. For Western copyright holders, such a statement looks like pure mockery.
via Times Online
Now the Americans have finally achieved the final closure of this site, although dozens of similar Russian resources continue to operate. But they are unlikely to be able to repeat the amazing success of AllofMP3.com.
Recall that exactly a year ago, in June 2006, it became known thatthe agreement reached by the US and Russian authorities in the negotiations on Russia's accession to the WTO. As it turned out, one of the conditions the Americans set the fight against piracy, and specifically - the solution to the problem with collective rights management societies and the closure of the AllolofMP3.com website and similar sites. Details of all the conditions were listed in a special memorandum, which was signed in November 2006 and leaked to the Network .
Under pressure from the Americans, the largest Visa and MasterCard processing systems soon stopped accepting payments to AllofMP3.com . It became known about the lawsuits that are initiated by Western copyright holders against the site owner, MediaServices .
And finally, it happened. AllofMP3.com shut down last week. Americans are happy, as is MediaServices, which moved the store to a new domain .
The new site looks exactly the same as its predecessor, and offers thousands of songs from the albums of the most popular artists. The price for one song is about 15 cents. The management of MediaServices believes that the activities of the new site are absolutely legal. Moreover, the company said that in addition to 15% of contributions to the licensed community, it is ready to pay an additional 5% directly to music artists, although this is not provided for in the terms of the license agreement. For Western copyright holders, such a statement looks like pure mockery.
via Times Online