Russia's "AllofMP3.com" Web Site: 13 cent songs & "allTunes" software

Russian Web site angers music industry
Site sells songs for pennies, albums for less than $1

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/06/02/cheap.tunes.ap/index.html

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- A Russian Web site that lets visitors download albums for less than $1 is a smash hit with music fans -- but not with U.S. trade and music industry officials.

The site is a pirate, they allege, and say Russia's failure to close it down presents a direct obstacle to the country's negotiations to join the World Trade Organization.

The site, they allege, amounts to a haven for music pirates. They say it presents a direct obstacle to Russia's negotiations to join the World Trade Organization. Russia is already the second-biggest source of pirated music film and software in the world after China -- costing U.S. companies nearly $1.8 billion last year, according to anti-piracy groups. The Web site -- Allofmp3.com -- just adds to the dispute.

The site's knockdown prices make it a strong draw. Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store, which is the world's most popular online store licensed by the industry, charges 99 cents per song, but the Russian site offers tracks for a tenth of that price. Songs from new albums by popular rock groups cost between 10 and 16 cents. The whole of one top new album can be had for $1.40.