A Danish court has ordered Internet provider Tele2 to block its subscribers’ access to the Russian Web site allofmp3.com, which allegedly sells unlicensed music. The decision in a case filed by IFPI Denmark for the Danish recording industry comes within weeks after Visa International and MasterCard International disqualified the service from using their credit cards to process sales.
“This judgment is one more step along the road to getting this rogue site closed down,” says John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of the IFPI. “Allofmp3.com illegally offers for sale copies of music that it has no right to reproduce or distribute. It provides unfair competition to the nearly 400 legal sites worldwide that respect the rights of composers, artists and record producers.”
Allofmp3.com claims to be licensed by Russian-based society ROMS, but ROMS has no mandate from international rights owners to license the site in or outside Russia, the IFPI claims. ROMS has been expelled from membership in the international copyright confederation CISAC, which represents collection societies from around the world.
“We warmly welcome the enforcement court’s decision,” says Jens-Otto Paludan, chairman of IFPI Denmark and managing director of Universal Music Denmark. “This decision eliminates any doubt that people may have about the illegality of allofmp3.com.”
Earlier this month, Vadim Mamotin, director general of allofmp3, challenged the decisions of Visa and MasterCard to disqualify the service from processing sales with the credit cards. “There is no valid reason and absolutely no legal basis for the action.”
