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For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Court acquits allofmp3.com owner

Associated Press:

A Russian court has found the former boss of music download website www.allofmp3.com not guilty of breaching copyright, in a case considered a crucial test of Russia's commitment to fighting piracy.

The allofmp3.com website angered Western music companies by undercutting the price of downloads in deals they said breached copyright law.

Denis Kvasov, head of MediaServices which owned the site, was put on trial after entertainment companies EMI Group Plc, NBC Universal and Time Warner Inc pressed for a prosecution.

"The prosecution did not succeed in presenting persuasive evidence of his involvement in infringing copyright law," said judge Yekaterina Sharapova.

Kvasov always said he was within the law because the site paid part of its income to ROMS, a Russian organisation which collects and distributes fees for copyright holders.

The judge agreed with his defence.

Just so we're clear, AllofMP3.com (and its successor, MP3Sparks.com, is legal now, right? Is that what this means? :)

Labels: Digital media

[ Posted at 1:49 PM | Permalink ]