It seems the final death blow has finally been struck against the Russian music-downloading service AllofMP3.
After successfully beating back assaults on multiple fronts, it appears as though the WTO will insert the final proverbial nail in AllofMP3’s coffin.
First Visa and Mastercard jointly announced a halt in accepting credit card transactions from people trying to make purchases on AllofMP3.
Then Danish courts ordered the Swedish ISP Tele 2 AG to block its customers from being able to connect to the site.
Two very big setbacks yet, AllofMP3 persevered and trudged on.
The handwriting was written on the wall some time ago however, when outspoken US Trade Representative Susan Schwab referred to the site as the "head of the notorious markets." She made plain her contention that if Russia wishes to become a member of the WTO then it must permanently shut down the "illegal" music downloading service.
Well, it seems Christmas came early this year for Mrs. Schwab and her RIAA cohorts as the results of the "Bilateral Negotiations on Russia’s Accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO)" have been made public.
It specifically states that "The United States and Russia agreed on the objective of shutting down websites that permit illegal distribution of music and other copyright works…(and) names the Russia-based website allofmp3.com as an example of such a website."
In terms of fighting internet piracy, Russia’s role is made clear:
Russia will take enforcement actions against the operation of Russia-based websites; and investigate and prosecute companies that illegally distribute copyright works on the Internet.
An interesting request that is also part of the agreement asks for "Russia …to enact legislation by June 1, 2007, to stop collecting societies from acting without right holder consent, Russia will also work to enact legislation implementing the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet treaties."
This is probably the single biggest indication of who was pulling the strings behind the agreement. It’s no secret that the RIAA has long been angered by the low 15% Russian licensing fee that AllofMP3 pays to ROM, the Russian Organization for Multimedia & digital systems and the russian equivalent of the RIAA, and has been fighting an uphill battle against it. The RIAA has refused to recognize ROM’s legitimacy, mainly out of fear that it would help legitimize AllOfMP3 and erode their position against it.
Moreover, it appears that AllofMP3’s days are numbered. I always felt the decision could go either way, on one side nationalism and on the other capitalism. Surely they determined that more money was to be made from the trade incentives the WTO agreement will afford across the entire economy, rather than the alternative which is digital music sales alone. I’m sure it was an easy decision
.
Results of Bilateral Negotiations on Russia’s Accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Action on Critical IPR Issues
November 19, 2006
(CLICK ON DESIRED PAGE TO VIEW)
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Why didn’t they just use polonium 210?
oolololo..target was moving too fast……..
Looks like dear George W wants to rule the world.
Hey the Soviets tired to pay SOMEONE for the music now the artists won’t make anything from the site because they will just resort to other methods such as ed2k or bittorrent.
Your link is an image thats blurry; here is the original pdf : http://ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Fact_Sheets/2006/asset_upload_file151_9980.pdf
Well as you can see allofmp3.com has been singled out (on page 2).
This is absurd. Does the US want to rule the planet?
I hope the Russians don’t give in to Hollywood’s blackmail backed by those filthy dirty corrupt politicians headed by you know who in Washington.
It even has his seal on the letterhead.