Russia has caved to US pressure and finally closed down AllofMP3.com, the questionably legal music download site. The US insisted the site be closed as a non-negotiable term of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), leading to complaints that the US Government is doing the RIAA's dirty work.
In true pirate fashion, a new site has already sprung up. Mp3Sparks.com is owned by the same company, looks suspiciously similar and even accepts AllofMP3 user names and passwords, carrying over any outstanding credit from the old site.
Allof MP3, which started in 2000, exploited a loophole in international law, claiming that as it paid royalties to Russian Licensing Societies (the equivalent of the RIAA) it was free to sell music without seeking permission from the copyright holder. That same slippery argument is being used by Mp3Sparks.com. They'll probably also claim that the US demanded AllofMP3.com to be closed, not the new site.
The whole case shows just how impossible copyright enforcement is in a global, connected market. The US might try to bully other nations but in the end, local law is local law.
Product page [MP3Sparks.com]
Russia shuts down Allofmp3.com [Times UK]
