Allofmp3 Shut Down, Again

studguy1 writes to tell us TorrentFreak is reporting that the Russian government has shut down Allofmp3, the popular online music site. "AllOfMP3 has been a thorn in the side of the RIAA and the US government for years. Last year, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said that if Russia wants to join the WTO, they should shut down the pirate music website that is robbing US recording companies of sales."

Re:Countdown until AoMP3 reappears in China/Brasil

[Cyberax]

Actually, it seems that http://www.mp3sparks.com/ [mp3sparks.com] already offers all the music from AoMP3.

So I guess AoMP3 has already reincarnated.

Re:robbing == theft

[superwiz]

nope. theft is only taking something in a way such that the original owner no longer has it. copyright infringement is not theft. it is what it is.

Re:Countdown until AoMP3 reappears in China/Brasil

[tyler_larson]

Actually, it seems that http://www.mp3sparks.com/ [mp3sparks.com] already offers all the music from AoMP3.
So I guess AoMP3 has already reincarnated.

From what I understand, the RIAA...I mean, US Government...I mean, WTO actually named AllOfMp3 by name, rather than specifying that a specific class of service be suspended.

So even though MP3Sparks is the same site, run by the same company, offering the same service, since the name is different, they've successfully satisfied the WTO request in this regard.

FWIW, you can't pay by credit card at MP3Sparks either.

Re:Bribery?

[Caetel]

Perhaps, but it is probably better described as coercion or extortion.

coerce [wiktionary.org]: to use force, threat, fraud, or intimidation in attempt to compel one to act against his will.

extort [wiktionary.org]: To wrest from an unwilling person by physical force, menace, duress, torture, or any undue or illegal exercise of power or ingenuity; to wrench away (from); to tear away; to wring (from); to exact; as, to extort contributions from the vanquished; to extort confessions of guilt; to extort a promise; to extort payment of a debt.

Re:No Big Deal

[Anonymous Coward]

That (along with Russia's desire to become a member of the WTO) is probably why allofmp3.com is now mp3Sparks.com [mp3sparks.com], including the same logins/passwords and the same typos in the track names and album titles, and of course owned by the same people. more info here [timesonline.co.uk]

Re:Countdown until AoMP3 reappears in China/Brasil

[zarkill]

FWIW, you can't pay by credit card at MP3Sparks either.

Why do you say that? It seems that they take all credit cards except AmEx, Cirrus, and Union Card.

http://www.mp3sparks.com/info/payments.shtml [mp3sparks.com]

Re:Soo...

[Harik]

Don't post on copyright subjects until you can grasp the basic concept that Copyright is NOT Trademark, and doesn't have to be enforced to maintain it.

Copyright is for a period of time, period.
Trademark is forever until failed to be maintained.

And you're an idiot for telling people they HAVE to file copyright infringement suits - even worse, this isn't even copyright infringement, it's a civil issue over which of the (many) royalty schemes allofmp3.com should be paying.

But hey, feel free to think you knew something.

Balance carried over to Mp3Sparks.com

[justinjas]

I noticed the comments about Mp3Sparks.com. I'd never heard of them but saw that they we're run by the same guys. I was bummed to hear allofmp3 was shutdown since I still had $30 balance on it. What do you know though, I tried to login with my allofmp3 username/login on Mp3Sparks and my account and balance was carried over. And I just assumed they'd steal my money.

slyck.com

[SilverwoodUG]

slyck [slyck.com] has a better article

Re:Countdown until AoMP3 reappears in China/Brasil

[jibjibjib]

It's not actually an illegal site. In russia, allofmp3.com actually has a licence to sell the music.

List of alternatives?

[Anonymous Coward]

Mp3Sparks.com
mp3sugar.com
mp3search.ru
mp3stor.com

Re:robbing == theft

[Tink2000]

Either your sister is lying to you, or doesn't know how to properly operate the easiest-to-use music software (imo, ymmv) ever, or she doesn't have a cd burner. You choose.

Tracks bought from ITMS can be burned to CD a limited number (7) of times.

Re:robbing == theft

[davester666]

> Tracks bought from ITMS can be burned to CD a limited number (7) of times.

Close. It's not an individual song, but a playlist [group of songs] that has a limit. By including a given song in different playlists, it can be burned an unlimited number of times, even without ripping a 'burnt' copy of the song, thus removing the copy protection completely.

Re:I'm curious....

[Rashkae]

Guaranteed quality (you chose the encoding bitrate yourself on most of their albums).. Great search engine/catalogue navigation without having to worry about download speeds or what downloads finished..Basically, it was just a really convenient service. And since time *is* money, well worth the small charges they applied.

No, I can't totally agree with you there.

[argent]

I think you go a bit too far. There are many people who say things like "I'm sick of buying a whole album for one song" or who disparage popular music who then go buy single tracks and indie music at iTunes and eMusic. And there really are people who think that copyright violation (which, and I'm not saying this to condone it, isn't 'theft') is a way to hurt "the man". They're mistaken about that, and there may be many people who are being totally hypocritical when they say things like that, but I think you go too far by implying that this is the sole or even primary motivation for everyone on that side of the discussion.

Ripping off a song via Kazaa or Allofmp3 instead of buying indie music doesn't support independent music or hurt the RIAA any more than ripping off a copy of Word instead of using another product supports independent and free software developers or hurts Microsoft. But people DO honestly believe it does... in both cases.

And apparently some people believe that it advances understanding to attack people who may be honestly mistaken and giggle like a schoolgirl about it. It's probably worthwhile to think about whether that might also be an error.

Re:robbing == theft

[superwiz]

I have not. They can still sell it to me. It is an oft repeated story that people have bought music after downloading it. So the ability is still there. But that's moot, anyway. Because "ability" to engage some free person in commerce is not a property. It is a stroke of luck. So all I did was reduce your chances of getting lucky. That's not the same as taking from you the proverbial bird in the hand. All I did was make it less likely that you'll get that bird in the tree. But as the saying goes that bird in the tree is not quite your property, so it cannot be stolen from you.