The new of our own survival is not mirrored in this bad news we heard today
http://www.slyck.com/story1521_AllofMp3com_Goes_Out_With_a_WhisperAllofMP3.com was perhaps the only online music store where hardcore members of the file-sharing community would spend money - other than newsgroup access. For a few cents per track, customers could download songs from a catalog of millions without any type of DRM (Digital Rights Management). Additionally, AllofMP3.com offered alternative file types such as OGG, FLAC, WMA, and AAC. AllofMP3.com claimed this was legal, as a portion of their income went to the Russian royalty collection agency ROMs. The music industry claimed otherwise.
This began a lineage of assaults on AllofMP3.com which slowly chipped away at this Russian music store. The key word is "slowly" as it took nearly three years to wind up where we are today - the final closure of AllofMP3.com.
The importance of the USTR's report weighed heavily on the Russian Federation’s accession into the World Trade Organization. A country with a favorable reputation on copyright enforcement would more likely become a member of the WTO than one that does not. And the Russian Federation, with its booming energy economy, wants few other things than to be a member of the WTO. Even if it means shutting down a site that may or may not be legal.
If AllofMP3 is truly dead, it's the end of an online icon. AllofMP3.com was more popular than iTunes in many markets, and showed that for the right price and file compatibly, people were willing to buy music online.
Well folks this has taken a lot longer than expected but they have held out for such a long time against the Cartel som lets give them a big send off, cheers guys
