At the request of the U.S., Russia has agreed to shut down AllofMP3.com, a website that sells digital music at low prices without copyright protection.
Apparently, AllofMP3.com defends their legality, citing the “YouTube defense,” i.e. that the website will comply with requests from copyright holders to remove material from the site.
However, under the agreement, Russia is instructed to eradicate companies that engage in online piracy and take criminal action against the individuals associated with said companies. Full compliance is expected by June 1st, 2007.
It appears that the piracy issue is part of a much broader list of agreements that Russia has agreed to in a bid to join the WTO. According to a press release on the website for the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the agreement signed on November 19th will “will create significant new opportunities for U.S. producers and exporters of industrial and agricultural goods, as well as U.S. services providers, when it enters into effect. The agreement also provides for the immediate implementation of some market opening actions for industrial and agricultural goods. The agreement resolves long-standing bilateral issues related to trade in agricultural goods, and also puts in place a strong and enforceable bilateral blueprint for protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR). Implementation of the commitments on IPR, agriculture, and industrial goods will be essential to completing the final multilateral negotiations on the overall accession package.”
Click on “Continue Reading” to view official document pertaining to the shutdown of AllofMP3.com.
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