[via Reuters]
AllofMP3, your favorite Russian site to get pirated albums for about $2, still operates to the chagrin of American politicians and record labels. Our own Trade Representative Susan Schwab, in between gnashing her teeth, told reporters ""I have a hard time imagining Russia becoming a member of the WTO and having a Web site like that up and running that is so clearly a violation of everyone's intellectual property rights". Snap!
Russia has been on the waitlist for the WTO for, oh, thirteen years now. Clearly our government which recently showed it won't even stand for online gambling is perfectly willing to use the existence of Allofmp3.com as a bargaining chip to get Russia's compliance on the matter. Granted China, which has a tiny black market of its own, enjoys WTO status, but that's politics for you. A Russian law targeting Allofmp3.com came and went without any change in prosecution status, but this latest development might show the site's days as numbered.
[...] AllOfMP3 has drama like your bipolar girlfriend. They’ve already been named as a main obstacle to Russia’s entry into the WTO, and now they’ve been dropped by Visa. Visa cited concerns over intellectual property infringement and no longer honors purchases at the Russian MP3 store. As Boing Boing points out, there are alternatives, such as buying credit into an XROST prepaid card, which AllOfMp3 will gladly cash in. [...]