Top music labels try to raise prices for downloads

[Karate Media]

Alec -- I think your examples are good at showing the grey area. Most of the legal examples I can think of re: international internet activity involve activities that are illegal in America but legal elsewhere. That said, I am not a lawyer and there very well may be nuances to copyright law that would apply to the international sale of music via the internet. Nor do I know the actual law regarding importing large volumes of music -- if you went to Russia simply to purchase a large quantities of CDs, would you be charged some sort of tariff/duty on the purchase? How much would that be?

Any IP or international law attorneys around these parts?

Regardless, like I said, burn the industry to the ground and let the artists create some new organization/business for themselves.

Have we gone off-topic enough yet?

[AlecWest]

Have we gone off-topic enough yet?

Actually, most of what's been said has been germane to the topic of music price increases for downloads ... especially so since, for the moment anyway, there's a cheaper alternative that's not going away soon.

Still, you're right ... this is supposed to be a forum for latest "video" news. However, two years ago, AllOfMP3.com said that video downloads were being considered. It could be that they want to test the legal waters first, though, with audio. And, unless Russian law changes to include "intellectual" property in the same regulations governing "tangible" property, passing the audio test might convince them that video waters are worth exploring ... just as downloadable movies are legal in the U.S. from places like CinemaNow.com:

http://cinemanow.com/browse.aspx?channelId=30&cat=2

[AlecWest]

Let's go one step further. If I flew to Moscow, bought a legitimate Madonna CD for $3.00, and flew back to the U.S., would they arrest me? Of course not. It was legitimate where I bought it ... and the fact that it's cheaper is not the issue. How is it different if I "surf" to Moscow, purchased legitimate MP3 files for a Madonna CD for ???, and downloaded it back to the U.S.?

That's what I said.

Yup ... I just worded it differently so as to compare a "physical" Russian purchase to a "virtual" Russian purchase, the point of sale for both being in Russia. And it's interesting to note that even U.S. law doesn't impose duties for virtual products (at least, not yet).

My guess is that the music industry will try one of two approaches to the problem. First, the Microsoft approach ("If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.") where the industry buys the download services and then converts them to clones of domestic services. Or secondly, they may try a barter approach. They may go to AllOfMP3.com and say, "OK, look. How many pennies do you make from American consumers? If you agree to not accept American customers, we'll pay you those pennies. That way, we both win. We save dollars ... and you save the wear and tear on your infrastructure while still maintaining the same cashflow as before."

Sometimes, what can't be negotiated in a courtroom can be negotiated in a boardroom.

[junkmalle]

Or they'll use the same approach they used in the USA, they'll bribe a few key Russian politicians to get a new law passed.

[AlecWest]

Or they'll use the same approach they used in the USA, they'll bribe a few key Russian politicians to get a new law passed.

Yup, that's a distinct possibility, too. It depends on whether or not they can find key officials who love money more than they hate American arrogance.

[proxyx99]

The way I see it, they will either buy them out at a hefty price or join them to "enhance their offer" and provide "better service" for western customers. All what George Carlin has said about "servicing the account" applies here they are positioning themselves now... to "service the account".

[AlecWest]

The way I see it, they will either buy them out at a hefty price or join them to "enhance their offer" and provide "better service" for western customers. All what George Carlin has said about "servicing the account" applies here they are positioning themselves now... to "service the account".

There was an interesting editorial this morning at Silicon.com. It's possible that the USA taught the Russians about free enterprise "too well" (grin) ... that the reason the prosecutor balked is because the Russians are attempting to find a balance between the strict interpretations of copyright law in the West and the lax interpretations in the East (China). I posted it in another thread:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=260948&start=39

It's possible that Western definitions of "free enterprise" would be better defined as "controlled enterprise" or "regulated enterprise" and that the Russians, quite familiar with "control" and "regulation" from their experience as a Soviet state, aren't quite sure they want to re-embrace those definitions.

[Nilfennasion]

I think it was Mario Puzo who wrote that it was a criminal organisation that decided competition was wasteful, and monopoly efficient.

[AlecWest]

I think it was Mario Puzo who wrote that it was a criminal organisation that decided competition was wasteful, and monopoly efficient.

I think the Russian mafia would agree with that. Hmm, maybe you're onto something.

In all the articles and debates I've read about this, I've yet to see anything resembling a Russian perspective. I wonder how average Russians feel about the service ... and whether they see the international copyright moguls trying to shut it down as a blessing or as "meddling foreigners." And I wonder if Russian legal scholars find this brouhaha to be a learning experience ... or if they'd just as soon tell the RIAA/IFPI to STFU.

[proxyx99]

Their perspective is closely related to their incomes (10% of average here and barely making a living in the economy with skyhigh unemplyment).
Whether they buy music online or not is irrelevant but prices for whatever services have to reflect local buying power. That is why US is shipping DVD's to China for 2-3 bucks. It is that or... nothing at all.

[AlecWest]

Their perspective is closely related to their incomes (10% of average here and barely making a living in the economy with skyhigh unemplyment). Whether they buy music online or not is irrelevant but prices for whatever services have to reflect local buying power.

Actually, to a Russian with computer access, buying their music online might be very relevant. It's likely the only way they can afford music over there. And I suspect that consumers in affluent countries are what keeps AllOfMP3.com afloat. If the powers that be manage to stop them from offering Western music, their business might crumble ... leaving poor Russians with no affordable way to get any kind of music online, Western or Russian, without resorting to (ulp) P2P.

EDIT - FWIW, when this story first broke on the 7th, I sent an email to Russia's international shortwave radio entity, the Voice Of Russia ... asking them what the Russian perspective was on AllOfMP3.com (ordinary Russians and the Russian legal community) ... whether international intervention against them was welcomed or considered as "meddling."

This AM, I received an email from Olga Troshina, VOR's English World Service liaisson. My question has been referred to Josef (Joe) Adamov, creator and host of their "Moscow Mailbag" program for answer during a future broadcast. Olga said she'd contact me as a "heads up" so I'd know when to listen in.

P.S. When I was a kid in the 60s, and later in the 70s, I listened to a lot of shortwave radio. VOR (which then was called Radio Moscow) featured Adamov's program. He's an icon over there, 61 years behind the mike, 46 of which was as Moscow Mailbag's honcho. He's a crusty old fart who grew up in England and he looks and sounds like my grandfather. Here's a link to his homepage (with selected RealAudio files of past programs):

http://www.vor.ru/Moscow_Mailbag/Adamov.html