[vox] Buying MP3s online

[Adam Carlson]

allofmymp3.com is about the most advanced online music store I've seen 
with everything with a pricing scheme that I think is awesome(you pick 
whatever codec you want and pay a flat fee for the bandwidth.  If you 
want a cd ripped in flac or 256 kbps ogg you can get it, it will just 
cost you extra to download the larger files)......unfortunately rumor 
has it that it is run by the russian mob and that the actual copyright 
holders won't get a dime. 

The only validity I've found is this article talking about it being 
investigated:

http://www.onlinereporter.com/TORbackissues/TOR433.htm

"Russian authorities are reportedly investigating the Russian Web site 
Allofmymp3.com for selling downloadable digital copies of copyrighted 
music illegally. The site's principles are believed to be offering the 
music both in Russia and internationally without the authorization of 
the rights holders. The Computer Crimes unit of Moscow City Police, 
which was doing the investigation, turned the investigation's report 
over to Moscow's City Prosecutor's office on February 8.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), on 
behalf of its members, also submitted a formal complaint to the 
prosecutor's office on the same day, urging prosecution. The prosecutor 
has 30 days from the date of receiving evidence to decide whether to 
proceed with a criminal prosecution.

IFPI's complaint alleges that Allofmp3.com has not been licensed to 
distribute its members' repertoire in Russia or internationally. IFPI 
Moscow regional director Igor Pozhitkov said, "We have consistently said 
that Allofmp3.com is not licensed to distribute our members' repertoire 
in Russia or anywhere else. We are pleased that the police are bringing 
this important case to the attention of the prosecutor. We very much 
hope and expect that the prosecutor will proceed with this case, which 
involves the sale and digital distribution of copyrighted music without 
the consent or authorization of the rights holders."

IFPI, headquartered in London, has a regional office in Moscow plus 
others in Brussels, Hong Kong and Miami. The Miami office covers Central 
and South America. The organization has 1,450 members in 75 countries 
and affiliated industry associations in 48 countries"

I'm in no way a proponent of IP laws as they've come to be or a 
supporter of the record industry in its current form, so I'm not saying 
this to lecture on why you shouldn't use the site.  Just wanted people 
to know what they were getting into.  For what it's worth a good friend 
of mine has been using the site for a few months with no problems at 
all, he loves it and didn't really care too much when I told him why the 
prices were reasonable. 

If you can handle the limited selection emusic.com is an awesome site 
that many artists choose to release B-side or older material on because 
it seems to give artists a better deal than most sites.  It is through 
the web and gives you mp3's so it should be linux friendly. 


Ken Bloom wrote:

>Anyone know ways to buy music online if you're using Linux?
>
>I've come across 2 possibilities.
>
>The first is pymusique which can access the iTunes store from Linux,
>but I haven't gotten it to work yet. When I try to register, I get an
>error message telling me to try again later.
>
>The second is http://www.allofmp3.com/ which seems to have a very good
>selection and seems to be very sane, letting you preview music and
>browse their catalog without having to register on the site.
>
>Any others?
>
>--Ken Bloom
>
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