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RIAA Claims Victory Over AllofMP3.com
....but never notices the owners simply set up a new operation....
You may remember AllofMP3.com, the discount Russian music site that offered DRM-free music. The company, despite having no official relationship with the major labels, claimed their model was entirely legal under Russian law (something several Russian courts agreed with). After U.S. diplomats pressured Russia to shut the site down or face denied entry to the WTO, Russia obliged. The RIAA has now dropped the lawsuit claiming victory, oddly never noticing the owners simply set up a mirror website dubbed MP3Sparks.com.
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cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958

Premium Member

Sweet victory for the RIAA

Sweet victory!!

The dipsticks!!

PhoenixDown
FIOS is Awesome
Premium Member
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY

PhoenixDown

Premium Member

Payment?

I remember AllofMP3 and MP3Sparks had some issue accepting US based payments -- is that still an issue?

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: Payment?

said by PhoenixDown:

I remember AllofMP3 and MP3Sparks had some issue accepting US based payments -- is that still an issue?
Yes. The site is there, but actually downloading AND PAYING for songs doesn't work most of the time.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AllOfMP3
The MP3Sparks site still appears to be a fully operational music download store. The site experiences occasional periods when it cannot be accessed for several days at a time, but as of April 22 2008 the site is accessible again.

The company has been plagued by legal issues for some time due to accusations, mainly from the record industry, that they are operating illegally and engaging in music piracy. For at least the past two months, members of the MP3Sparks website have been, and continue to be, unable to add money to their accounts. There is no foreseeable conclusion to this problem.
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

ke4pym

Premium Member

Re: Payment?

said by FFH5:

said by PhoenixDown:

I remember AllofMP3 and MP3Sparks had some issue accepting US based payments -- is that still an issue?
Yes. The site is there, but actually downloading AND PAYING for songs doesn't work most of the time.

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AllOfMP3
The MP3Sparks site still appears to be a fully operational music download store. The site experiences occasional periods when it cannot be accessed for several days at a time, but as of April 22 2008 the site is accessible again.

The company has been plagued by legal issues for some time due to accusations, mainly from the record industry, that they are operating illegally and engaging in music piracy. For at least the past two months, members of the MP3Sparks website have been, and continue to be, unable to add money to their accounts. There is no foreseeable conclusion to this problem.
If you have the thick client - allofmp3explorer then you'll have no problem picking and download songs regardless of the website status.

Paying for it on the other hand ....

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska to PhoenixDown

Premium Member

to PhoenixDown
said by PhoenixDown:

I remember AllofMP3 and MP3Sparks had some issue accepting US based payments -- is that still an issue?
I have not been able to make any payments in ages with them. I have given up and moved onto other means in getting music. If they accept payments again, i would go back. But until then, i can't.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK to PhoenixDown

Premium Member

to PhoenixDown
Yeah, the RIAA and friends went after them via credit card processors. Basically they got them "Banned4Life" with the likes of Visa, Mastercard, etc etc

The game of whack-a-mole begins.

Kickrox
Premium Member
join:2002-08-18
Brooklyn, NY

1 recommendation

Kickrox

Premium Member

After all these years..

and money spent on nonsense over and over again you'd think that they(RIAA)would've figured out a way to truly use and embrace the Internet's power of mass marketing and distribution.

I know it's been said a billion times...

kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL

kapil

Member

Awwww Come On!

Those of us who need to know about MP3Sparks, already knew about it. Did ya' have to put it on the front page? Now the RIAA is going to go after the new site!

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska

Premium Member

Re: Awwww Come On!

said by kapil:

Those of us who need to know about MP3Sparks, already knew about it. Did ya' have to put it on the front page? Now the RIAA is going to go after the new site!
Which will result in a new domain again, and again, and again. LoL.. The riaa will NEVER win this battle.

Rogue Wolf
An Easy Draw of a Sad Few
join:2003-08-12
Troy, NY

Rogue Wolf to kapil

Member

to kapil
Right, like they come here? Anyone who visits this site is in danger of coming away with a clue, and that's the most dangerous thing to the RIAA!

axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC

axus

Member

RIAA and diplomats

I wonder if they are getting a positive return on investment for their lobbying activities. US diplomats have to negotiate a lot of things in these treaties, right?

I wonder what concessions of US interests were made in exchange for the Russian side to pressure allofmp3.com? Because you usually don't get something for nothing in these agreements.
moonpuppy (banned)
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD

moonpuppy (banned)

Member

Mission Accomplished

NOT!!!!!


Robert
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Miami, FL

Robert

Premium Member

Concerns me..

quote:
After U.S. diplomats pressured Russia to shut the site down or face denied entry to the WTO, Russia obliged.
This concerns me.
Anomaly95
join:2005-12-11
Phoenix, AZ

Anomaly95

Member

Re: Concerns me..

Software companies that are concerned with piracy, also had a hand in that.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to Robert

Premium Member

to Robert
said by Robert:
quote:
After U.S. diplomats pressured Russia to shut the site down or face denied entry to the WTO, Russia obliged.
This concerns me.
Why?

One of the main jobs of US diplomats all the way back to 1800 was to advance the interests of US business. As it always was, it always will be.

packetscan
Premium Member
join:2004-10-19
Bridgeport, CT

packetscan

Premium Member

Re: Concerns me..

said by FFH5:
said by Robert:
quote:
After U.S. diplomats pressured Russia to shut the site down or face denied entry to the WTO, Russia obliged.
This concerns me.
Why?

One of the main jobs of US diplomats all the way back to 1800 was to advance the interests of US business. As it always was, it always will be.
How can they advocate for a quasi-legal CARTEL?

Sure the RIAA is bringing in money, but to this day they have paid no artist from these funds.

Reality Meet Tk

Robert
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Miami, FL

Robert to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

said by Robert:
quote:
After U.S. diplomats pressured Russia to shut the site down or face denied entry to the WTO, Russia obliged.
This concerns me.
Why?

One of the main jobs of US diplomats all the way back to 1800 was to advance the interests of US business. As it always was, it always will be.
Because it's legal in Russia. It's not like it was illegal and the Russian government was ignoring it. My concern is that the U.S. was able to force the Russian government to go against their laws all to please the U.S.

Would we be so willing to do the same? I doubt it.
EPS4
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA

EPS4

Member

Re: Concerns me..

It just shows that the Russians really wanted the WTO deal more than anything else- it's just self-interest, Russia preferred to have an expedited entry into the WTO than defend with some minor MP3 site they probably didn't care about anyway.

DownTheShore
Pray for Ukraine
Premium Member
join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ

DownTheShore

Premium Member

Thanks for that link....

...to MPSparks.com

Hello_me
@comcast.net

Hello_me

Anon

RIAA

HA HA HA HA HA HA...... The RIAA is just stupid! When will they learn that it's a BIG world out there and trying to be the music police for that BIG world is a daunting task.

Dnepr
join:2001-11-28
Tarpon Springs, FL

Dnepr

Member

Virus in Link?

MP3Sparks.com

Is being blocked by my anti-virus, NOD32.

Whats up?

ARGONAUT
Have a nice day.
Premium Member
join:2006-01-24
New Albany, IN

ARGONAUT

Premium Member

Re: Virus in Link?

Same with my NOD32.

ScottMo
Once in a Lifetime
MVM
join:2000-12-15
New York, NY

ScottMo to Dnepr

MVM

to Dnepr
Its hosted by known cybercriminals, AbdAllah Internet that has numerous malware,fraud & phishing sites hosted.

»www.theregister.co.uk/20 ··· bdallah/
CSU
join:2002-10-21
Lagrange, GA

CSU

Member

.......................

It just goes to show that the RIAA has Government control and soon world control.

Maxxxt
Peculiar Mental Twist
Premium Member
join:2001-06-12
Anchorage, AK

1 recommendation

Maxxxt

Premium Member

Best delivery

People seem to miss the fact the Allofmp3 and mp3sparks has the BEST choice of format. You can pick OGG, LAME, VBR, CBR, 128kbps to 320kbps and lots of other professional formats that I forget. They charged by the Megabyte which makes perfect sense to me. They charged very little per megabyte as well. I don't feel warm and fuzzy paying $1 per track for 128kbs in ACC with itunes. Why must RIAA always try to close, dissolve, fight and destroy every good and successful distribution method only to find out later it was a good idea? RIAA, I cant wait till they collapse due to stupidity and greed.

PToN
Premium Member
join:2001-10-04
Houston, TX

PToN

Premium Member

Pointless

This is like the war on drugs... Pointless, useless, and will never change anything, but the way of delivering the merchandise.

jgkolt
Premium Member
join:2004-02-21
Avon, OH

jgkolt

Premium Member

mp3sparks.com

on that site they have the chart toppers for may 31, 2008 in the us. If i check the date it says the 27th. hmm

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

Doctor Olds

Premium Member

Techdirt.com article different from Arstechnica.com version.

With AllOfMP3 gone and MP3sparks reeling, RIAA drops lawsuit
»arstechnica.com/news.ars ··· uit.html
quote:
The RIAA has dropped its federal lawsuit against MediaServices, LLC, the parent company of AllOfMP3.com. In a court filing last week, the recording industry dismissed the case without prejudice (meaning that it can be filed again) but provided no information on why it was abandoning the effort now. But in comments to Ars Technica today, an RIAA spokesman indicated that the group had won, that MediaServices was out of business, and that MP3sparks was badly crippled.

...

On its blog, AllOfMP3 yesterday said that it "welcomes the decision of record labels to voluntarily dismiss their $1.65 trillion lawsuit against the site," but until AllofMP3 is back online and taking credit cards, it's hard to see how this could be much of a victory for the site.
emig5m
join:2004-02-16
Columbia, NJ

1 edit

emig5m

Member

Re: Techdirt.com article different from Arstechnica.com version.

said by Maxxxt:

People seem to miss the fact the Allofmp3 and mp3sparks has the BEST choice of format. You can pick OGG, LAME, VBR, CBR, 128kbps to 320kbps and lots of other professional formats that I forget. They charged by the Megabyte which makes perfect sense to me. They charged very little per megabyte as well. I don't feel warm and fuzzy paying $1 per track for 128kbs in ACC with itunes. Why must RIAA always try to close, dissolve, fight and destroy every good and successful distribution method only to find out later it was a good idea? RIAA, I cant wait till they collapse due to stupidity and greed.
That's why I liked AllOfMp3 aka AllTunes aka MP3Sparks was that you could choose the file format AND encoding quality you wanted. I used to listen to 320KB/s mp3 on the PC but moved onto lossless FLAC since I have my PC hooked up to a dedicated home theater sound system where I can notice the sound quality difference now - no way I'm going back to lossy formats from here on out. Hope to see AllOfMP3 back in business soon because there's really no other way to purchase lossless music online digitally.

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

Doctor Olds

Premium Member

It is too bad they are not legitimate.

SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX

2 recommendations

SRFireside

Member

Re: Techdirt.com article different from Arstechnica.com version.

Under Russian Copyright Law they are completely legit. They pay the legally required percentage of their profits to the royalty collection agencies in their country. The problem the RIAA has is that they don't think the money is enough so they refuse payment (if they take it that would be accepting to low terms).

The RIAA couldn't do anything legally so instead they used lobbying power to have the U.S. government put pressure on the Russian government to close AllOfMp3.com's business for the sake of continued commerce with America. Now who's not legit on this scenario?

interesting
@verizon.net

interesting

Anon

Re: Techdirt.com article different from Arstechnica.com version.

the u.s has been bullying its way around for decades, and its not gonna change now. i remember watching a documentary on the war on drugs, and one of the head guys (cant remember his name or position in the government) said that they went to australia and demanded they change their heroin program or something like that, and basically if they didnt, they would make it hard, if not damn near impossible to trade or something like that. it had something to do with restricting their foreign trading or soemthing. details later, but long story short, im not shocked we bullied someone into listening to us.
degauss1
join:2001-07-02
Hillsboro, OR

1 recommendation

degauss1 to SRFireside

Member

to SRFireside
It's actually that the Russian Royalties collected only get paid to the LEGITIMATE,PROVABLE copyright holder. The RIAA is not the holder of those copyrights and therefore don't get a dime. That's what makes them mad.
Roop
join:2003-11-15
Ottawa, ON

Roop

Member

in a related story...

no one cares because no one buys music anymore.

i'm sure there's a special place in hell reserved for child molesters, rapists and riaa employees. i'm sure the first two will cause the last one some trouble.
Core0000
Premium Member
join:2008-05-04
Somerset, KY

Core0000

Premium Member

Good Value

@MP3 Sparks website.
NOW THIS! is a price I would pay with no complaints! This seems like a good deal. It doesn't seem too low of a price, but not too expensive for individual songs. (When you consider the volume that will be downloading someone would have good steady growth) What I am saying is this seems reasonable, rather than that 99cent a song bs, or 89 cent a song which feels like I am getting reamed every single time.



IF Amazon.com offered stuff like this, and had the same library, I would so being buying more mp3s.