What is Digg?112 Comments
- mkayatta, on 10/12/2007, -5/+27perhaps you mean oligopoly?
- vertinox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20@"You can still buy CDs and rip them."
As long as they don't have rootkits ;) - thegreatsam, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20I am amazed that Visa and MC caved into government pressure to stop authorizing purchases from allofmp3. Visa and MC make money off the transactions, so you know it wasn't for a business reason.
- pintomp3, on 10/12/2007, -4/+21i think he means cartel
- rhesuspieces00, on 10/12/2007, -6/+19"As it is now I have to jump through like 3 different websites to get a payment to AllOfMP3 to buy my legal music."
Sorry friend, buying music from a company run by the Russian mafia that gives artists a tiny fraction of their contractual royalties (if anything) is not "legal music" any more than buying burned copies of CDs from some guy on a street corner. Just because it costs you money doesn't make it legal.
AllOfMP3 is just another company in the business of ***** people. The only difference is we happen not to like the people getting *****, so we pretend its ok. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13from the article-
"The company believes the action taken by the world’s largest payment processors is arbitrary, capricious and discriminatory because Visa and MasterCard lack the authority to adjudicate the legality of AllofMP3’s activities and its determination that the company’s activities were illegal is patently erroneous and without legal merit. AllofMP3 has not been found by any court in the world to be in violation of any law." - archer75, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15Allofmp3.com pays many to ROMS. It's then up to them to pay the artists. From what I understand the artist needs to contact them and collect payment.
So allofmp3.com is operating well within Russian law.
If anything this may show they RIAA that people what to be able to choose the bitrates of thier songs as well as the format and don't want DRM. And after you meet that criteria people are then willing to pay for it. - shaggtastic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15It certainly wouldn't be much of a war. See "Bambi meets Godzilla".
Also, Visa can choose not to allow its cards to be used by whoever the hell it pleases, legally. - adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11and because it's illegal here it must be wrong? Hope you don't smoke weed.
- VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Even mom & pop businesses get their credit card accounts revoked, all the time. Places that charge 35 cents or whatever to use a credit card if the purchase is under 10 bucks? Visa will drop them if they find out.
This stuff happens all the time, it's nothing new. - Novagenesis, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Since visa can minimize Allofmp3's profits for the entirity of the suit, I don't see any money, scam or no...
And afair, they really ARE legal, just in a really twisted consideration of countries and copyright laws... That may mean they have no case, depending where the suit takes place, though. - geekdreams, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12You really think PayPal wants to be associated with a borderline-illegal Russian download site?
- iventook, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10thegreatsam: That's not entirely true. If Visa and MC feared losing international clout with regulators or larger businesses that generate greater profits, they would stop working with AllofMP3 due to increased risk. Business is a balance between risk and opportunity. If you want a business to change, even an oligopoly like credit cards, just apply the right pressure to change the risk in the equation.
- geekdreams, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Do you know what kind of contract AllOfMP3 signed with Visa in order to use their services in the first place? Neither do I, but companies usually cover their asses by stating that they can refuse to do business with anyone, at any time, for any reason.
- jerwong, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10What I've noticed is that many of these articles are biased against AllOfMP3. This is one of the few that are actually neutral.
- EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7AllOfMP3 used to accept PayPal, in fact I think it used to be their primary form of payment.
- plaunie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"Or I can burn an audio CD and have it sound perfect to play in my wife's restaurant" Careful - I'm pretty sure the RIAA will sue you for playing music in a restaurant:
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/article/20765 - spiffyjeff, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I just used my master card and it seemed to go through just fine, and allofmp3.com was listed as the company
- ChiChiCuervo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9think about it.. if allofmp3 didn't have the support of the russian uber-rich oligopoly (and by extension government), at least tacitly.. they would've been shut down years ago.
allofmp3 complies with russian law, which is all they're required to do. I wouldn't be surprised if the Russian AG started ***** with Visa & MC out of spite... The Russian powers-that-be aren't known for their love of foreign influences, especially American corporations. - webwidejosh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Just because its illegal in one place doesn't mean its unethical. Hell in some countries its perfectly illegal to marry your sister, the illegality doesn't make it wrong. There are certain things that society dictates that are right and wrong and don't confuse that with ethical.
- RoboRay, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10"If AllOfmp3 is so legal why aren't the artists seeing any money from the sales of their music."
Because the artists and the RIAA refuse to register with ROMS to accept the payments they are due. - podgey22, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Since when did you only need money to win a legal battle? It's fairly important that you have a case too.
- MYarms, on 10/12/2007, -7/+13If AllOfmp3 is so legal why aren't the artists seeing any money from the sales of their music. Its really no different than somebody selling a bootleg copy of a movie. You can't just take a copy of something and sell it for your own profit. How would feel if i stole the design of your website and used it to make money or if I decompiled some software you wrote and made it look like I own it. Its just no different and Visa has every right to NOT do business with shady people.
- reiggin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9How is it your money? It's a CREDIT card. And you're using their system to purchase goods. They can't tell you how to spend your money but they can keep "your" money off their system. It's called a free market.
- adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I'm seriously starting to think that the RIAA goons troll this site, seems like if you say anything in the support of AllofMP3.com you get modded down instantly. And didn't All of MP3 say that they were paying to the RIAA what was required of them? Who the hell are you going to believe them or the RIAA?
- elk1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Also, as much money as visa and mc are making off of allofmp3, they make a whole lot more from the legitimate music distributors and the evil record labels. They have a lot more to gain keeping the big players in the game happy.
Also there are moral and ethical issues with the business that allofmp3 does that should be considered. I'm sure lots of people want ot start calling visa vi$a and think that this move is completely driven by money. - Cander, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7They aren't telling you how to spend your money. What right do you have to tell them who the do business with?
AllofMp3 has no case. - AICkieran, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11Its a question of ethics not legality, as previous poster said they pay nothing to the artists, if you want to pirate music don't sugar coat it by 'buying' it.
Just because its legal in one place doesn't mean its ethical. hell in some countries its perfectly legal to marry your sister, the legality doesn't make it right.
I fully admit to downloading music now and then mainly because allot of what i listen to is hard to acquire in the 'mainstream' music stores, but i still support the bands by buying the cds that i like and going to concerts and buying the odd t-shirt - geekdreams, on 10/12/2007, -8/+12I didn't say they weren't legal, I said they were scammers. They don't pay any royalties to artists or labels, so all the money they make is pure profit.
IMO, if you're going to download music without supporting the artists, then you may as well just get it from BitTorrent or some other P2P network. If you want to support the artists, then buy a CD or use a service that actually licenses the music. But don't give your money away to a couple of douchebags in Russia, that's just stupid. - Gustav, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8I don't get it...why does Visa even need a reason at all to stop doing business with them?
I say good for Visa...KaZaA "enables" pirac, so the same line of thought could be applied to them if AllofMP3 were "illegal" or whatever...see what that sort of nonsense gets us? - phytonix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I think according to allofmp3 they did pay loyalties at 15% rate. ROMs collected the money and offered to big lables. HOWEVER, it is also unimaginable for these big lables to accept the money because that means accepting the business model of allofmp3. Instead, refuse the payment and claim they have not get a penny would be good for them to kill allofmp3.
On the other hand, even if people "sugar coat" pirate by "buying", we must see that people ARE willing to pay if the price is right. AND, people LOVE to buy and OWN things. That's why people BUY AND OWN iTunes downloads instead of rent music... - stormmind, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8A couple of things.
1.) Allofmp3 is legal. In Russia, at least. US law isn't valid all over the world, luckily.
2.) They pay artists. They pay 15% of their income to the russian agency that pays artists. Sure, that money will never reach the likes of 50cent and so-on, but it reaches russian artists.
3.) I pay them money not because I "imagine" that this is legal and now I can buy stuff cheap legally. I KNOW it is legal, but I also know it's quite unethical, since no money is reaching the western artists. On the other hand, if I buy a legal cd, almost no money reaches the artists anyway. They get most of the money from concerts and merchandize. I pay allofmp3 because I beleive their service to be superior to that of other alternatives and I want that to be noticed. And not only because they have no DRM and give a wide choice of formats, including lossless. The alternatives don't give a lot of money to the artists as well ( google for weird al yankovich and his contract with the label ) AND charge more. So who is the mafia here? I want a convenient service that gives me the music I want in the format of my choice and where a fair portion of the money goes to the artist. Until I can have that, I'll continue voting with my money. - phytonix, on 10/12/2007, -2/+660% of iTunes -> record lables
10% of that from record lables -> artist.
So artist got 6% of 9.99, that is 0.6
If artist got all 15% of $2.49 is 0.37
Considering Russia has lower price for many things and their income much lower, I think this doesn't look so bad.
I wish artist can work directly with allofmp3 and get paid. Record lables are just too greedy. They tried to sell CDs in China for the same price as in US, while Chinese earn 1/20 or less than Americans do. - jimthetaff, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Actually they can't. If their decision has a direct impact on the business, they can and will be sued. The internet is "run" by card transactions ans as such the card companies have a responsibility to any internet business, legally.
Watch the fat american bullies get steamrollered by Russian muscle, I can't wait, stupid ***** americans. - jackkerouac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Nope, not true. There are limits. for example, VISA and MC couldn't come out tomorrow and say only men can use their cards. Or only white people. Or only Germans.
- Cander, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"It's only "their money" until I pay the bill at the end of the month. What the hell should they care how I'm spending it. They don't seem to have to many problems letting people pay for Asian kiddie porn."
At the time of purchase you used THEIR money. You are just paying them back and have no rights to tell them who they do business with. - shark72, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"Can we call VISA and hold them in breach of contract or something for not honoring the transaction?"
Yes, Einstein. And you know all of those places that take VISA/MC but not American Express? Sue AMEX for breach of contract, too.
Vote with your wallet. If your loyalty to some Russian pirate site is that important to you, just stop using your VISA card, everywhere. Just like many people use allofmp3 because it's a way of boycotting the RIAA. - ersnyder, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6"I don't see what right Visa or Mastercard has to tell me how to spend my money."
It's not your money idiot. You are using them as a go between to front you the transaction of your money. They can stop being a middle man at anytime for any reason they want. You are fully capable of putting cash in an envelope and mailing it to Russia if you want. Because the cash is your money. - stevievep, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4How about we [not necessarily me - all you other shady cheapo's] send cash to their russian PO Box. :P
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7You can still buy CDs and rip them.
- nogoodreason, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Could anyone point me in the direction of a source confirming this deal with ROMs and the RIAA refusing to collect the money? I'd be more than willing to write an article highlighting that.
Siding with allofmp3, naturally. - jchanc04, on 10/12/2007, -8/+10It is legal in Russia, where the business resides. The Laws of the U.S. do not apply there (as much as RIAA and the current administration want them to.)
- phytonix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Because big record lables will not accept ROM offerings. Why? Because accepting the offer, means accepting their business model.
And that's why in the allofmp3 press, they said they looking forward to work directly with artists. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4What you may or may not know about allofmp3.com is that when you purchase music, the bandwidth you consume constitutes the majority of the money they charge you. Therefore if you request a song that's your average 160K VBR mp3, you'll pay around 10-20 cents depending on song length. Now, request a FLAC version of that same song, and the price may hover around or exceed 1 dollar.
Last time I checked the iTMS songs didn't offer this kind of quality at any price. Their $1 songs sound like ***** on a proper stereo system and there aren't many options with how you'll get it to play on that system to begin with.
Personally I prefer uncrippled music so I can move it to an mp3 cd to hear in my car, and when I get home I can listen to it via my MythTV box connected to my stereo and television. Or I can burn an audio CD and have it sound perfect to play in my wife's restaurant. My music is flexible and I can take it wherever I want. If I download a song or two at work, I can email them to myself or use sftp to transfer it directly to my MythTV box also. iTMS and iTunes will allow maybe one option out of all of this.
While I don't argue strongly against DRM, I do argue against how it's being implemented in this country. Anymore, you are not really purchasing music. You are purchasing a very limited *license*. When I was growing up we'd tape songs off the radio all day. When I got a little older I'd make compilation tapes from vinyl records. I'd copy these for my friends and hand them out. You didn't hear any record labels screaming bloody murder about casual cassette trading at that time or even after the introduction of CD players. And you *never* heard a bunch of brainwashed morons claiming that handing out those mixtapes was 'stealing from labels' and that Led Zepplin was going straight to the poorhouse because you let your friend copy your album.
It's all smoke and mirrors, friends, and you're buying straight into RIAA's propaganda. The real reason the labels are hurting these days is because the commercially available music sucks ass. I guarantee that any major label's back catalogue is ten times more lucrative and valuable than the Brittany Spears clones they're cranking out on a daily basis. Same goes for the MPAA. Creativity is at an all time low in the music industry and the film industry at large, and they're squeezing that beet just as hard as they can to get some blood. Notice how many 'remakes' Hollywood has given you over the last 5 years? - RedZeppelin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Oops -- Meant to reply to the comment below.
That's exactly what I was thinking. Anyone know whey they stopped taking Paypal? Or did Paypal stop accepting payments for them? - kickbackpunk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2All this talk about allofmp3 has gotten stupid, most of the responders in here don't have a clue what they are talking about. It's legal, it's not. Just because you read some paragraphs here and there suddenly you talk as if you really know what's going on. Here is the facts, they are a Russian website and only need to abide by Russian law which they have done. From a consumer point of view, who cares where the money goes. They offer a great service for very little money. Let the music industry work out the details. And by the way do you really think that money goes to the artist? They get pennies on the dollar. Go to the concerts if your concerned with the artist getting paid. Unfortunately they are small fish in a big pond that wants them gone. So crap like Visa pulling out on them is part of the big stupid game that the industry plays. If you want to know who the real crooks are it's the record company who will always assume that every consumer is not trust worthy and will never offer a good product any you like it for little money. DON'T BE A STUPID LAMB! Get the music you love how ever you can. And stop defending the greedy record industry because it's legal. We all break laws in one way or another every day for are own reasons.
- KSUdesigner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Its becoming incredibly popular for gas stations to offer gas for $1.90 with cash but if you use a card .....its like $1.96"
Holy ***** where are you getting your gas? I haven't seen prices that low in months. We're finally down to $2.09 here, but it's been hovering around $3 a gallon for a LONG time.
Back on topic...I've never seen a gas station hike up the price of gas just because you use a card, and I'm fairly certain if they are doing that it is illegal. Might want to contact the better business bureau next time you see that. - clickwir, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Visa has suspended payments to them, so you cannot choose Visa. MC is on the verge of doing the same.
Allofmp3 is trying to kick em both in the nuts before they think they are bigger than their own pants. - Jammerdelray, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Prepaid credit cards? Pwnd
- geekdreams, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5It's not a question of legality.
Mininova or The Pirate Bay could probably get away with charging $0.01 per .torrent downloaded from their site, but does Visa have an obligation to accept credit card payments for those transactions? (The answer, in case you are painfully obtuse, is "no".) -
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