Rich Fiscus
18 Oct 2007 23:11
Although they've survived years of legal battles with copyright holders, credit card companies, and international pressure, Russian websites selling copyrighted music without the copyright holder's permission may finally shut down in a bid for the country to gain entrance into the World Trade Organization.
Sites like the now infamous Allofmp3.com do pay royalties to a Russian licensing body. Unfortunately, that body isn't sanctioned by music labels to collect royalties for them, which explains why music can be sold at a fraction of what mainstream stores like iTunes would pay in royalties. In the past, Allofmp3 has successfully defended their licensing practices in Russian courts, which do recognize the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) as a legitimate royalty collection agency.
That hasn't stopped the music industry from applying pressure on world governments, especially the United States, to put pressure of their own on Russia to crack down on the problem. By joining the WTO Russia would make it easier to do business from within the country with other 150 WTO members. This gives them ample incentive to take piracy seriously. The question now is whether they'll be able to back up a tough stance with effective enforcement. Until now they haven't been successful.
Source: Cnet News