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FANTASTIC

That's a rate of 172 million per year!!!

I hope it stays at this rate instead of an initial peak and then a relaxed pace that plateaus somewhere way lower.

This can only be a good thing, with Beastie Boys pre-release a MONTH in advance, others are sure to follow!

Let's hope this converts to iPod sales...
 
valypan said:
It seems like this site you talk about is not 100% legal after all. It can exist due to a loophole in the russian law system, but it is by no means licensed or endorsed by the labels. You can read more about this here:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/05/russian_mp3_site/

That said, Itunes is still the best 100% legal way to download songs. I love it! :)

What does "not 100% legal" mean? If there is a loophole - or rather, a use of the law that no one considered that does not make it illegal.

BTW: iTMS is not 100% legal either. iTMS DRM violates the "fair use" provision. So it is not 100% legal by US law.
 
DGFan said:
The World will be tough. I lost 23 free song credits when the Pepsi promo ended because I didn't realize I had to use them*. As a result I decided to check out AllOfMP3.com which was discussed around the net last week. Over the weekend I downloaded 7 or 8 albums legally for a cost of around $2 per album. They are high quality songs (sometimes higher quality than iTMS songs) and DRM free. I still plan to shop at the iTMS for exclusives and more obscure songs. But when I want a popular mainstream album, there are other options that are much cheaper.

"legally"? AllOfMP3.com is in no way legal in the US or just about anywhere outside Russia. From their website's terms and conditions:

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.

You are not to use data received through the Site for unlawful purposes. The Site Administration is not held liable for possible use of information received on the Site for the purposes prohibited by legislation or infringing copyright. You are responsible for unlawful or unauthorized use of any Site materials.

Copyright All the materials in the MediaServices projects are available for distribution via Internet according to license # LS-3?-02-36 of the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society. Under the license agreement, MediaServices pays license fees for all the materials subject to the Law of the Russian Federation "On Copyright and Related Rights". All the materials are available solely for personal use. Further distribution, resale or broadcasting is prohibited.


By the way, the Russian Federation law on copyright and related rights basically, and I'm paraphrasing, says, "eh, whatever." I know none of us ever read the fine print, but when the site is Russian, it's probably a good idea.
 
DGFan said:
The World will be tough. I lost 23 free song credits when the Pepsi promo ended because I didn't realize I had to use them*. As a result I decided to check out AllOfMP3.com which was discussed around the net last week. Over the weekend I downloaded 7 or 8 albums legally for a cost of around $2 per album. They are high quality songs (sometimes higher quality than iTMS songs) and DRM free. I still plan to shop at the iTMS for exclusives and more obscure songs. But when I want a popular mainstream album, there are other options that are much cheaper.

* I complained to Apple via email. I got a letter stating kindly that I should read the (confusing) terms and that they would not restore the credits. Two days later the credits were restored. *shrug*

except for the little catch that allofmp3 isn't legal. or ethical. it's actually worse than downloading from kazaa because you're supporting a shady organization.
 
Guess who that press release was for...

From the press release:

“Our third generation iTunes Music Store just blows away any other online music service,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.

The press release might as well have started: "Dear Sony."

Get em, Steve!!
 
valypan said:

RAO terminated its agreement with ROMS at the end of 2003, complaining that it had received very little money and no accounting details from the four-year-old body which RAO had itself helped to found. "They told us they had 200 licences but they would not even tell us who they were licensing," RAO's Vadim Dunin told MusicAlly.

So now RAO is preparing to license sites such as allofmp3 itself.
 
miloblithe said:
"legally"? AllOfMP3.com is in no way legal in the US or just about anywhere outside Russia. From their website's terms and conditions:

By the way, the Russian Federation law on copyright and related rights basically, and I'm paraphrasing, says, "eh, whatever." I know none of us ever read the fine print, but when the site is Russian, it's probably a good idea.

I read their terms and conditions.

Copyright law means that I cannot offer materials for copying. If I make a copy of a song from AllOfMP3.com and it turns out they were not actually authorized to offer that song for copying who is breaking the law. Me? NO!! The site is. (Read up a little on copyright law and you will understand)

That's right. And if big coporations (like, oh, say APPLE) can save money by having their products produced overseas in countries with lower labor costs and weaker labor and environmental laws, who are you to tell me that I can't benefit from the same situation when it comes to my music? Especially if in doing so I am not breaking any laws (which, I will say again, I am not).
 
DGFan said:
I lost 23 free song credits when the Pepsi promo ended because I didn't realize I had to use them
I had 2 credits left on April 28th showing in the itunes browser, so I went out and picked to songs and downloaded them. I didnt even bother to look at the price at checkout, but 4 hours later I got a receipt for 1.98 :(

I have no idea what happened to my two credits, and it was before the cut off.
 
DGFan said:
What does "not 100% legal" mean? If there is a loophole - or rather, a use of the law that no one considered that does not make it illegal.

BTW: iTMS is not 100% legal either. iTMS DRM violates the "fair use" provision. So it is not 100% legal by US law.

That article relates to its legality within Russia, not outside of Russia. It is 100% illegal. Whether or not you'd be caught though is another question.
 
Porchland said:
From the press release:
“Our third generation iTunes Music Store just blows away any other online music service,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.
And VideoLAN, once more, blows away Apple's vendor lock-in :D
 
Russian site is music to the ears
There is no indication in our dealings with allofmp3.com over several weeks that this is one of those dubious enterprises so much loved by the Russian mafia. Our credit card doesn't seem to have been abused, and while we have no legal qualifications, we can't see that it fails to comply with the Berne Convention on copyright. According to the company, "All the materials in the MediaServices projects are available for distribution via internet, according to Licence # LS-3M-02-36 of the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society."

It claims it pays licence fees for all material on the site, "subject to the law of the Russian Federation on copyright and related rights". We hope that this is correct, because under the terms of use, we've agreed we won't use their services "if it is in conflict with legislation of your country".

We can't see any legal or moral objection to using the site. We're using the material for private use, there is no restriction in this country on the parallel importing of recorded music and none of the artists seem to have been deprived of their rights. While we suspect the recorded music industry would like to earn more from their music, we're in no position to judge the arrangements they might have made with Russia.

Nevertheless, the prices we're paying to satisfy our increasingly obsessive passion for music tend to make us a little nervous about whether we're engaging in a spot of bargain-hunting or a form of digital burglary.

We sought some advice from a Melbourne barrister and contributor to these pages, Simon Minahan, who practises in the area of intellectual property.

His opinion: "There's probably nothing to stop the individual from downloading this material for private use. For end users, the issue is a basic question relevant to acquiring a reproduction of any copyright work: has the rights owner consented?"

Even if allofmp3.com's asserted licence is bogus, says Minahan, "the end user would seem to have a good basis to argue that he is an innocent infringer, which would mean he isn't liable to damages, although he would still be liable to an order requiring him to destroy or deliver up any copies and an order requiring him to refrain from doing it again."
 
miloblithe said:
It is 100% illegal.

TheRegister said:
So as IFPI Russia's legal adviser, Vladimir Dragunov, concedes: "Because of these loopholes we don't have much chance of succeeding if we attack these companies who are using music files on the Internet under current Russian laws."

Translation: Russian courts would likely rule in favor of allofmp3.

Why? Because it's 100% illegal. Uhhh.
 
greg75 said:
Translation: Russian courts would likely rule in favor of allofmp3.

Why? Because it's 100% illegal. Uhhh.

Why are you deliberately not listening to what I'm saying? I'm not talking about its legality in Russia. I'm talking about its legality outside of Russia. Inside Russia, anything goes. When I lived there I bought a lot of pirated stuff that would be illegal elsewhere. You really think QuarkXPress can cost $5?

As for the Russian courts, they'll rule for whoever pays them, or, more likely, whoever the authorities tell them to rule for. It's not exactly an "independent judiciary."
 
miloblithe said:
That article relates to its legality within Russia, not outside of Russia. It is 100% illegal. Whether or not you'd be caught though is another question.

You don't understand the law. But that's ok. You don't have to.
 
I got all 8 free songs, enjoyed most. I say most because, well, Courtney Love has a horrible voice! If this was American Idle she woulda been gone. Just b/c your husband is The Late Kurt Donald Cobain the Great, u are not automatically great as well.

Anyways, yeah congrats Apple. I'll keep getting your free songs and buy good stuff as I see it come up.
 
miloblithe said:
Inside Russia, anything goes. When I lived there I bought a lot of pirated stuff that would be illegal elsewhere. You really think QuarkXPress can cost $5?
Whoever sold it to you committed a crime. Which is different from allofmp3.com, which claims to be paying royalties. If they are, it's not pirating.

If Allofmp3.com is not breaking the law in Russia, then it's not illegal for me to buy stuff from Allofmp3.com just as it's not illegal for me to buy CDs and DVDs from other countries over the Internet.
 
greg75 said:
Whoever sold it to you committed a crime. Which is different from allofmp3.com, which claims to be paying royalties. If they are, it's not pirating.

If Allofmp3.com is not breaking the law in Russia, then it's not illegal for me to buy stuff from Allofmp3.com just as it's not illegal for me to buy CDs and DVDs from other countries over the Internet.

You're right that I'm not a copyright lawyer, but this doesn't make sense to me. Why is Apple trying to expand iTunes to Europe, Canada, and so on if it's already legal for people there to download songs from iTunes America?
 
miloblithe said:
You're right that I'm not a copyright lawyer, but this doesn't make sense to me. Why is Apple trying to expand iTunes to Europe, Canada, and so on if it's already legal for people there to download songs from iTunes America?
It's not that consumers in Europe can't download legally from iTMS USA, they can. It's Apple's license in the US which doesn't allow Apple to distribute to other countries. Allofmp3.com's Russian license doesn't have such restrictions.
 
dontmatter said:
So, how many copies of itunes 4.5 downloaded? hmm. Perhaps they didn't publish that b/c it's a bit dissapointing? I know plenty of people not downloading it b/c of lack of mytunes.

Interesting point. There are hundreds of shared libraries on my college campus. Many people have changed the name of their libraries to warn people:

"---DO NOT UPGRADE ITUNES, 4.5 BREAKS MYTUNES"
"***DON NOT UPDATE ITUNES, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD"
"[if you want my music, get itunes 4.5]"

Lots of people haven't updated because of this.
 
greg75 said:
It's not that consumers in Europe can't download legally from iTMS USA, they can. It's Apple's license in the US which doesn't allow Apple to distribute to other countries. Allofmp3.com's Russian license doesn't have such restrictions.

I would be very surprised if anyone posting to this thread has any real knowledge of how Russia's laws work with respect to this issue. Just because something is posted to a website doesn't make it a fact.

You are all fooling yourselves if you think that this Russian company has negotiated rights to distribute music online (inside or outside of Russia) and that they're paying royalties to the record companies.

Ignorance is bliss, as they say.
 
Didn't firugre this was worth a thread, so I'll post it here...
Did anyone else have their pepsi iTMS caps that had been redeemed credited back to their account? Mine went away, but came but sometime.... I just noticed it today.
 
Flowbee said:
You are all fooling yourselves if you think that this Russian company has negotiated rights to distribute music online (inside or outside of Russia) and that they're paying royalties to the record companies.
Do you have any clue about how compulsory licensing works?
Flowbee said:
Ignorance is bliss, as they say.
Indeed.
 
Trowaman said:
I got all 8 free songs, enjoyed most. I say most because, well, Courtney Love has a horrible voice! If this was American Idle she woulda been gone. Just b/c your husband is The Late Kirk Cobaine the Great, u are not automatically great as well.

Anyways, yeah congrats Apple. I'll keep getting your free songs and buy good stuff as I see it come up.



it's the late Kurt Donald Cobain

im sorry, but that misspelling/murder of his name was just blasphemous...
 
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