Note From Russia, With Love: The iTMS Is Dead

[Mac Reporter]

Get ready to see the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) become obsolete in short order if Apple does not respond quickly. Two competing download sites, MP3Search and
AllOfMP3, provide extremely cheap prices, no digital rights management (DRM), and the kicker is that it looks legal. Also, AllOfMP3 transcodes and/or provides downloads in almost any format including MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, and lossless full CD quality encodings. AllOfMP3 even offers videos. The downside, if any, is that the sites are both in Russia. At least AllOfMP3 is reported to have cleared rights from the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society, apparently the RIAA's equivalent in Russia. But worries of sending your credit card to a shady Russian organization are largely allayed in that you may use PayPal as an intermediary.


Full story at The Mac Observer

[alfiesy]

Tried the site, loaded $20 in credit and currently downloading full albums and the service is FAST! MP3's do not come with the ID3 tags correctly filled in but are encoded in 192kbps and sounds good. If the RIAA doesn't succeed in shutting down the site, iTunes is in trouble.

In the meantime, I'll be very vigilant about any unauthorized transactions that may get posted on my credit card.

[Henjie]

Originally posted by Mac Reporter
Get ready to see the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) become obsolete in short order if Apple does not respond quickly. Two competing download sites, MP3Search and
AllOfMP3, provide extremely cheap prices, no digital rights management (DRM), and the kicker is that it looks legal. Also, AllOfMP3 transcodes and/or provides downloads in almost any format including MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, and lossless full CD quality encodings. AllOfMP3 even offers videos. The downside, if any, is that the sites are both in Russia. At least AllOfMP3 is reported to have cleared rights from the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society, apparently the RIAA's equivalent in Russia. But worries of sending your credit card to a shady Russian organization are largely allayed in that you may use PayPal as an intermediary.

"It looks legal" doesn't mean it's really legal. Legal in Russia maybe, where loopholes in laws are a dime a dozen. Do note that piracy is rampant in Russia and the government there doesn't seem to be too worried about it yet. It's mostly the foreign (read: US) artists that are being ripped off anyway.

The sites are not licensed by the Russian equivalent of the RIAA, but rather by the Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems (ROMS). ROMS sidesteps the recording companies directly and are supposed to pay all the royalties to the copyright holders themselves (composers, musicians, etc.). The kicker is that ROMS was set up primarily for the benefit of Russian copyright holders. Sure, you see "foreign" and "international" sprinkled about in its site, but there are two questions to ponder: 1) did the foreign musicians/composers/copyright holders whose materials are available on the sites agree to let both sites sell their materials? 2) are they getting paid? :-)

From Allofmp3.com'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."

BTW, those sites have been in business even before the iTMS was launched. If they're such a threat, the iTMS would have been DOA. As it stands right now, 2.7 million downloads a week != obselete.

As word gets out about those Russian sites, I'm sure they'll become more of a threat to the iTMS. But the same thing also applies to other US-based music download sites like Wal-Mart, Napster, etc. IMHO, the Russian sites are actually more of a threat to the non-iTMS services. I reckon that Napster and the likes will be the first ones to fall if things came to a head.

Not that the Russkies aren't targeting iTMS/iPod users though. You can already buy AAC-encoded files from ALLOFMP3.com. Kinda smart of them to make those available.

Originally posted by alfiesy
If the RIAA doesn't succeed in shutting down the site, iTunes is in trouble.

The RIAA can't do anything about the sites if they're legally licensed in Russia. Even if they're not, the RIAA still can't do anything 'coz it's jurisdiction lies only in the US and it doesn't have any power at all in Russia. What the RIAA can do is to drive home the point that the whole thing is illegal in the US and that the RIAA can go after the end-users.

Parallel: pornography is legal in the US. It's strictly prohibited in Saudi Arabi. A Saudi citizen can buy all the porno stuff he wants while in the US, but he'll be severely prosecuted if he's caught with those materials back home.


~Henjie

[Edited on 4-30-2004 by Henjie]

[Henjie]

Okay, I'm saying right now that both sites are illegal.

Proof: both sites are offering Beatles albums for downloads. The Beatles have never allowed any of their music to be sold online. :-)


~Henjie

[alfiesy]

Legal and ethical questions aside, MP3Search.Ru has one useful feature that I'd certainly would like Apple to consider implementing into their next upgrade of iTunes: that of the ability to preview any part of the song via audio streaming. Streams can be limited in one of 2 ways:
1.) to 30secs from the point the user selects, and not just preview 30sec pre-selected part of the song, or
2.) to preview the entire song albeit at far lower sound quality just as MP3Search.Ru currently implements.

Just my two bits (and a $20 debit on next month's credit card bill) worth of opinion.

[alfiesy]

If I purchase music online from a the Russian sites, and there are no existing Philippine laws against such purchases, then I have not committed an illegal act, have I?

[Henjie]

Originally posted by alfiesy
If I purchase music online from a the Russian sites, and there are no existing Philippine laws against such purchases, then I have not committed an illegal act, have I?

Well, you're technically stealing from the artists since none of the money you're paying to the Russkies are reaching them. :-) I guess it's more a question of your view on piracy (and your conscience?) since it doesn't take a law against something to make something "wrong". Something legal can still be wrong. :-)


~Henjie