ok this is going to get ALOT of people to FLAME!!! but here we go,
Last night I came across a review for an apparently legal, VERY low cost Music download site by the name of allofmp3.com
From what I can gather, this Russian based audio download site is totally legit and songs can be downloaded for as little as $0.01 per MB. That's around 3 cents per song.
Too good to be true?...Is this legal? A user review on the TechIMO Forums states...
quote:Russian copyright law is completely different from that found in North America and many parts of Europe. At present, the law is written to favor end users and third party distributors. Copyright laws typically cover fees for both the performing artist and the record company. In Russia, the performing artist does get paid, but the record companies are not being paid a fee for every tune downloaded or sold - they are paid by an annual contract flat fee. Thus, Allofmp3 does have its paperwork in order to stay in compliance with Russian laws.
Do the ever-powerful RIAA know about allofmp3?
quote:The RIAA is completely aware of Allofmp3, but their hands are tied. Russian courts will not recognize a suit by the RIAA filed in their country. The RIAA has little regard within Russia's own record company associations, and Russia considers the potential revenue to be earned by online services to be enormous, and they avoid regulating them. The RIAA will get a hostile response to any attempted legal action. Further, the RIAA will never successfully subpoena customer records and cannot track IP connections with the service, so the potential of the RIAA suing end users is right up there with a blizzard in Cuba.
the site has been do for about 3 years (so i hear) and i know people are going to have some VERY strong opions about this, but it is HOT, and thats the bottom line.
taken from ipodlounge
edit:now you can buy songs with paypal, i bought 1gb (10.00) and i was gven 11.00 in my account due to the 10% bonus till the 26th. this is a great service for getting all thoes radio singles you hear
sidsavara
Addicted Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:01p
!!!
I'm not sure what to say. It's hot if it's legit, but ... do songwriters/artists get any money off this?
If nobody makes money except the people you are d/ling it from (russian guys) I'm not entirely sure it's a legit copy you're getting. Mixing copyright laws from different countries is tricky. If you buy a stolen car, it's still stolen, and the police will take it from you.
YMMV to the title maybe? Your Ethics May Vary too =p
Sid
viper673
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:03p
From their site:
Before you continue browsing the site (registration on this site), you are to read and agree with all the clauses of the following document. In case you disagree with any of the clauses, you have no right to continue browsing the site (registration on this site), and must immediately leave it.
You agree with the fact that you are not able to use and even to download audio and video materials from Allofmp3.com catalogue if it is in the conflict with legislation of your country. Allofmp3.com Administration is unable to control all Allofmp3.com users, therefore the users are responsible for usage of the materials represented on the Site.
Normz04
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:04p
this is hot!! Thanks!!
mlrtime23
Happy Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:05p
It might be legal in Russia, but if you use this song in the US then it is not a legal copy. As much as I would like to believe it is, use your common sense.
The only benefits to using this service are:
1) The riaa MIGHT not be able to track your d/l habbits to send you a nasty law suit. (who knows about the future though).
2) You can get your music from a nicely layed out website.
If you don't mind using p2p services you might as well stick with them becase they aren't any different (legally).
Airjrdn
Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:08p
Well, you are also able to get music videos here. I'd buy music videos if I knew of a legit place to get them. It's hard finding a lot of good 80's music videos though.
WillysEmptyWallet
Senior Member - 10K
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:12p
Our site provides chargeable service - VIP Club. 95% of materials in the Allofmp3.com catalogue are only available for VIP users. There are several ways of joining VIP Club:
Monthly subscription:
Download speed - 256 kilobit/sec (10x3) for each VIP user irrespective of his location in the world; No restrictions on connections from IP addresses; Possibility to download up to 1000 files per month (irrespective of the size); Technical support; Access to service is carried out according to special rules (more...) This subscription plan is the best for owners of fast modems and low-speed dedicated channels, those who can download large volumes of information. Subscription price: $14.95 per month.
Payment by traffic:
No monthly payments - the account sum decreases only when you download files; No restrictions on speed or the number of simultaneous IP connections; No geographical restrictions; Possibility to fill the account with any sums at any time; The account remains active while there is at least one cent on the account; Technical support; Access to Online Encoding service. This variant is the best for the users, who do not download much and are unwilling to pay fixed subscription price; this subscription is also expedient for those who use high-speed channels. Payment for traffic is 0.01$ per 1Mb. Payment modes: bank transfers, credit/debit cards or through WebMoney. Details on payment modes are on payment page.
CINW
Addicted Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:15p
I'm sure there are legal things in Russia that are not anywhere else. In addition, RIAA said they will target whoever possesses illegal MP3's so I don't think claiming you have downloaded them from a legal Russia site will work as your defense.
Airjrdn
Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:16p
Has anyone done it yet?
stevetaebo
Thrifty Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:16p
mcwacko1213 said:
<< From what I can gather, this Russian based audio download site is totally legit and songs can be downloaded for as little as $0.1 per MB. That's around 3 cents per song.
>>
correct me if i'm wrong but, $0.1/MB is about 10 cents. so wouldn't a typical 3 meg song be about 30 cents/song. Not to mention the fact that songs with a higher bit rate like 192/320 would be a larger file and therefore costlier.
Laxdguy2k2
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:28p
WillysEmptyWallet said:
<<
Payment by traffic:
No monthly payments - the account sum decreases only when you download files; No restrictions on speed or the number of simultaneous IP connections; No geographical restrictions; Possibility to fill the account with any sums at any time; The account remains active while there is at least one cent on the account; Technical support; Access to Online Encoding service. This variant is the best for the users, who do not download much and are unwilling to pay fixed subscription price; this subscription is also expedient for those who use high-speed channels. Payment for traffic is 0.01$ per 1Mb. Payment modes: bank transfers, credit/debit cards or through WebMoney. Details on payment modes are on payment page.
>>
<< correct me if i'm wrong but, $0.1/MB is about 10 cents. so wouldn't a typical 3 meg song be about 30 cents/song. Not to mention the fact that songs with a higher bit rate like 192/320 would be a larger file and therefore costlier. >>
The $.1 is an error, it's 1 cent per MB.
DiMAn0684
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:31p
stevetaebo said:
<< mcwacko1213 said:
<< From what I can gather, this Russian based audio download site is totally legit and songs can be downloaded for as little as $0.1 per MB. That's around 3 cents per song.
>>
correct me if i'm wrong but, $0.1/MB is about 10 cents. so wouldn't a typical 3 meg song be about 30 cents/song. Not to mention the fact that songs with a higher bit rate like 192/320 would be a larger file and therefore costlier. >>
Yeah, you are wrong. It's $.01/Mb = 1 cent per Mb. Average song costs me about 5 cents. There are other Russian servers that allow you to download songs for $.01 per Mb, but they'd let you download 5 songs/day for free, and charge you if you download more than five. Download speed is waaaay higher that p2p networks.
tsai0610
Addicted Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 2:50p
so your paying russian scum to give you the right to download illegal mp3s in the US if you reside in the us. great job.
not only do they scam everyone on ebay, but now you are deciding to pay them?
something just doesnt seem right.
AgenT
Ancient Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 3:07p
HOT deal if you do not live in USA. This should be 100% Legal in most countries as they pay the artists.
Actually, in terms of the law in the U.S., this is rather interesting. You are, in this case, importing legal songs (importing since it's Russian based). Now, just because this service is illegal in the USA, that does not mean that using it is illegal. Why? MP3's, OGG's, etc are not illegal in the USA and therefore can be imported. There is also no law against importing music from other countries (including Russia). And because you are buying this legally in Russia and then importing to the USA, this should be 100% legit. For example, assuming that Russian Vodka is illegal to buy in the USA on Sunday, but you buy the Russian Vodka in Moscow on Sunday, then you import it into the USA, you have done nothing wrong. Again, this assumes that 1) it is illegal to buy Russian Vodka on Sunday in the USA 2) it is legal in Moscow and 3) it is legal to import Russian Vodka.
The catch is that this has never gone to court and that it might not be (for whatever reason) considered importing of music, even though you are buying from a different country. Also, and this being the USA, the RIAA may get their way (read: sue and buy off congressmen). Maybe not.
And do note that this is different than, for example, using a 'legal' website in some obscure country where they have no copyright law and do not pay any royalties. Why? Because from what I have read, this Russian company has agreed to contracts with the actual people/companies owning the copyrights to the songs. This contract between the service and people/companies makes this a whole new ballgame!
That is my legal analysis of the situation. And no, I am not giving legal advice!
And stop with the flames, you are just making yourself look stupid and incompetent!
Also, this has been posted in another thread before, and yes, there are people using this service with success. However, the other thread was not about this service, but something else so this is not a dup.
sleepnmojo
Cranky Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 4:41p
Hmm support the russians, or the evil RIAA? Good thing I'm a cheap bastard, here I come russia.
Sir4533
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 4:45p
ANYBODY try it? Why all the bashing???
oldye
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 4:49p
the RIAA wont go after you unless you are a 12 year old girl living in the projects.
Nimbus
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 5:01p
Hey I'll chime in on this one. Allofmp3 is great! Why? Because you get maximum speed downloads every time and with as many as 5 files going all at once. Also it's very reasonable. I put in 10 bux a while back and I am still using the credits. It's reliable, cheap, fast and is legal in Russia. If I remember correctly I have seen numerous conversations about the legality of allofmp3. It's quasi-legal as opposed to just plain illegal but don't take my word for consult your local attorney. You pick but for me it's ease of use and the fact that I can go directly to the site and have a whole album downloaded in about 5 minutes. Now they don't have every album but they have lots of brand new stuff, lots of the classics like 40 Pink Floyd albums and they also cater to Russian and European folks who have very diverse musical tastes. You can pay by paypal and the site works flawlessly. You can also find quite a few free downloads but they tend to be a little slower. As for the Russians, hey when it comes to religious extremists the Russians and us have a lot in common that we should take stock in. We all know now that the Cold War was half fabricated by arms manufacturers anyway. They sold arms to both sides and now we get to deal with the blowback.
info411man
Shopaholic Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 5:24p
Nimbus said:
<< You can pay by paypal >>
Were you able to pay via Paypal? The service will be available after 14th, January, 2004. Is what it tells me.
thanx info411man
NoStance
Member
posted: Dec. 31, 2003 @ 5:27p
Ive spent about $20 over a few years at this site. Very good quality mp3s, you can even choose at what bitrate to encode many songs/albums! Awesome d/l speeds too.
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Your Ethics May Vary too =p
