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Michael considered fate at 16:45   |   Permalink   |   Post a Comment

So if you've been keeping up with the AllOfMp3 debacle, you know the 'ol US of A, specifically the RIAA, is pretty unhappy with them. And now Visa has stopped processing charges from them:

Tuesday, the credit card company Visa International said that it had suspended card service to the site, citing concerns over copyright issues..

..Vadim Mamotin, director general of the site’s parent company, Mediaservices, spoke through a translator by telephone with the International Herald Tribune and then participated in an online chat with 59 journalists. Mr. Mamotin maintained that the company operated legally under Russian law.

"In six years of operation we have never been convicted by a Russian court or declared illegal,” Mr. Mamotin said in the telephone interview. “Under Russian law, we are 100 percent legal."

This is pretty huge, in a way, because who is Visa to tell me where I can spend my money? Are they some sort of governing body? Do they make copyright policy? No, no, and no. There are plenty of ways I can spend my money through Visa illegal and I don't see them stopping any of those avenues.

Meanwhile, AllOfMp3 has started a music for the masses download service which allows people to listen to all of their music free, through proprietary software (How long before that gets hacked?).

Personally I think this is something that needs to be taken up with the Russian government itself. I realize they have tried to some extent but I don't think you can start doing this sort of vigilante-justice styled shenanigans by going over or around world governments. It smacks of nasty conflicts to come. Frankly, there is a lot going on in Russia that is illegal in the eyes of most people. It's the stuff that loses money for the big companies in the west that is what becomes highlighted. Nothing new here, really.