The pressure on rogue Russian download site allofmp3.com was increased again yesterday when Visa International announced it will not honour purchases made via the store because it believes buying tracks from the service violates copyright.
The credit card firm has reached that decision after statements from both the major record companies and certain trade officials in the West who claim that allofmp3.com, who sell mainstream music at rock bottom prices, are acting illegally. As previously reported, owners of the service argue they are operating within Russian copyright laws, and it is the responsibility of customers outside Russia to ensure they abide by local copyright rules. The record companies question whether allofmp3.com is even trading legally in Russia, but insist that its operations are certainly in violation of copyright laws elsewhere in the world, and therefore allofmp3.com should not sell to consumers outside its home country.
Of course legal pressure has been mounting against allofmp3.com, with US officials telling Russian authorities they must close loopholes utilised by the service if they want to join the World Trade Organisation, while some record label trade organisations are planning on fighting the service through the courts. However, moves like that made by Visa this week could have a much more immediate impact on the service than any long drawn out legal fight - allofmp3.com depending on the compliance of credit card companies in order to trade internationally.
Meanwhile, allofmp3.com is piloting a new bespoke player, which seemingly gives consumers access to free downloads in a proprietary mp3x format, which can only be played through the player. Whether this is the forerunner of a free-to-use ad funded download service remains to be seen.