Russian Court Acquits Owner Of Allofmp3.com Of Copyright Infringement
A Russian court has acquitted Denis Kvasov, the owner of the dodgy music download site Allofmp3.com, of breaching copyright in a trial that demonstrates Russia’s lack of commitment to fighting piracy. Allofmp3.com offered DRM-Free digital downloads of all the major’s catalogs at a tenth of a the cost of sanctioned retailers such as iTunes. EMI Group Plc, NBC Universal and Time Warner Inc. alleged that Allofmp3.com breached copyright law, and sued..
“The prosecution did not succeed in presenting persuasive evidence of his involvement in infringing copyright law,” said the judge Yekaterina Sharapova. The site, which has now been closed, was a thorny issue in negotiations between Russia and the United States over Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation, a key aim of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian marketplaces and underground passes are full of knockoffs of music and film on DVDs and the Russian government has been accused of being too lax on protecting intellectual property rights, a basic principle of WTO membership.
