Petteri Pyyny
26 Oct 2004 15:15
Spanish company Puretunes.com, which briefly offered music in MP3 format for a very low price, has reached a legal settlement with RIAA. The company will pay $500,00 in damages, while the holding company that was responsible for the operations will pay $10 million.
Puretunes.com offered what it thought were legal MP3 downloads at just pennies. The company acquired the rights for the songs from an overseas licensing authorities, but according to RIAA the licences were not legal, and sued Puretunes.
"Puretunes.com duped consumers by claiming it was a legitimate online music retailer when, in fact, it was no such thing," RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a statement. "It's essential for the integrity and security of the legitimate online music marketplace that imposters like Puretunes.com are held accountable."
Several similar MP3 sites are still in operation, One of the best known is Russian ALLOFMP3.com.
Source: News.com