« Beware the Bus Uncle | Main | HP pulls plug on telecommuting »
June 05, 2006
Allofmp3: legal or piracy?
We'd love to know whether the Russian music download site Allofmp3.com is legal or not. The recorded music industry association says it's not, of course, and is trying vigorously to shut it down. Now the New York Times has weighed in on the debate, and declares that ... well ... who knows?
Allofmp3 claims to have a licence from the Russian royalty collection agency, ROMS, but according to Eric Baptiste, director general of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, the umbrella organisation for collecting societies, "These collecting agencies are thieves and frauds because they accept money while pretending to represent artists."
Vladimir Dragunov, a Moscow-based legal adviser to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a group that represents major and independent music labels, said the District Court of Moscow rejected a case against AllofMP3 on May 16 on technical grounds, but the decision was being appealed. Sergei Marchenko, a spokesman for the Moscow prosecutor, said his office was continuing to investigate AllofMP3.
Warwick Rothnie looks at Allofmp3's legality from the point of view of Australian consumers, and suggests that ... well, who knows?
Hmm, how do ss 44D etc. apply to those actions? Certainly, they say quite broadly that copyright is not infringed, but have you imported a "copy" (check out the definitions of "copy" in s 10(3)(c) and "record" in 10(1). Did allofmp3.com have the power to authorise your actions from the owner of the Australian copyright? Did it even need it - go back to s 10AA?
When the laws that govern these transactions are so unclear, how can the consumer be expected to decide? And what about the fact that Australian customers can order albums from Allofmp3 by SMS? It's a bit more expensive to do it that way - $5 an album - but it works quite well. What interests us is whether by being the intermediary for these transactions, Telstra (or whoever your SMS provider is), is aiding and abetting piracy. No doubt there'll be an equally incomprehensible law that absolves them of all responsibility.
Posted by cw at June 5, 2006 03:47 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://bleedingedge.com.au/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/901
Comments
From the EULA on the allofmp3.com site:
"You shall not download audio and video files from AllOFMP3.com if the Terms are in conflict with the laws of your country of residence. AllOFMP3.com shall not control actions of its users and the latter bear the sole responsibility for any illegal use."
Makes it a little tenuous don't you think?
Posted by: Newman at June 5, 2006 05:25 PM
You make an important point - how is the consumer to decide? You or I have more information, but should an average punter be expected to examine the legality of any web site they do e-commerce with? On the surface, how could you tell AllOfMp3 from any of the other music services out there (apart from the fact that it's cheap and DRM free)? Unless you feel a prosecutor could successfully argue in court that a consumer ought to request and try to understand the agreeements web merchants have with their own vendors, often in foreign languages and legal systems, then I think consumers are in the clear.
Will they sucessed in shutting Allofmp3 down? Probably, in Russia. But I'd be surprised if allofmp3 aren't buying up Bahaman and Albanian rack space right now.
Posted by: Colin J at June 5, 2006 07:19 PM
"You shall not ..." But then they put in place SMS downloading taht seems to be specifically for Australians.
Posted by: cw ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://bleedingedge.com.au/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 5, 2006 10:24 PM
But, Charles, to be fair.....
I bet you own, or have access to, a car that is capable of more than 110km/h.
Yet, the rules state this is the maximum speed allowed in the state.
Based on your logic, Holden and Ford and all the others should not provide a means to travel outside the law, nor should they specifically target Australians by marketing or advertising their wares.
I know I'm not allowed to exceed that speed, even though I have the means to do it. Ergo, it might be prudent not to use the Allofmp3 site whilst it's legally challenged, even though the means to do so is provided.
And you should recall I provided you with the info on the sms ordering in the first place! :)
Posted by: Newman at June 6, 2006 12:11 AM
Sorry Newman. It's a false analogy, in my opinion. There's a legal use for automobiles. Is there any legal application for Allofmp3? And I'm pretty sure my attention was drawn to SMS ordering by Allofmp3 itself. It's scarcely hidden. What's your point?
Posted by: cw at June 6, 2006 09:54 AM
It is not a false analogy. You can do legal things, ot illegal things. The mere presence the thing (car, website, whatever) does not make it illegal in and of itself. It's what you choose to do with it that makes it so.
All I wanted was to show that you can't claim ignorance. You're an IT "somebody", Charles - I'm sure Sony and the DRM crowd would love to have a go at you.
Me - I can get away with it because I'm just a mug punter, and they wouldn't really care much if I downloaded stuff fof me. You're much more appealing for their legal targetting.
Posted by: Newman at June 7, 2006 02:05 AM
My point, Newman, is that in the current situation, the average Australian simply does not know whether using allofmp3 is legal or illegal. One doesn't have to seek a legal opinion to know whether using a car is a lawful act.
If it is illegal to use the Russian download services, then Sony and the DRM crowd could sue to force me to delete everything I've downloaded. But so far as I am aware, they haven't yet proved that it IS illegal, and my understanding is that, having initially had a legal opinion suggesting that it IS lawful and lacking any established precedent, they'd find it extremely difficult to gain an award for damages. Rather than bullying the user, they ought, surely, to sue companies like Telstra, who make the exchange possible.
I know that you're attached to this analogy of yours, but - no offence intended - I just don't find it helpful.
Posted by: cw at June 7, 2006 11:45 AM
Several European magazines have tested and awarded Allofmp3. The Dutch Consumers Society has even named Allofmp3 as the best music service, much to the discontent of the Dutch Music industry. Using the service is perfectly legit in The Netherlands as far as I can tell.
Why do Record Companies sell their cds cheaper in Far East Countries ? why do they charge so much for them here in Europe and USA ? is this not a Rip Off?
as for me i'm using lavamus.com for 2 monthes also those guys are acceptong paypal for extra charges.
Posted by: richie at September 25, 2006 02:31 AM