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AllOfMP3 responds to lawsuits

Published on 28th December 2006 by Brett Thomas

"Neener!" - AllOfMP3 was just handed a $1.65T lawsuit. The response was along the lines of "Dudes, are you high?"

Right before Christmas, the boys over in Russia got the laugh of their lives. Apparently, the RIAA's many companies entered into a joint suit filed in New York demanding $1.65 trillion in damages from the music distributor. Now that the holiday is over and everyone's had their laugh, the company has responded.

I don't think the response was quite what the RIAA bargained for...

"An attempt by the major record labels to use a U.S. court to as part of its campaign against AllofMP3.com is imprudent.

AllofMP3 understands that several US record label companies filed a lawsuit against Mediaservices in New York. This suit is unjustified as AllofMP3.com does not operate in New York. Certainly the labels are free to file any suit they wish, despite knowing full well that AllofMP3.com operates legally in Russia.

In the mean time, AllofMP3.com plans to continue to operate legally and comply with all Russian laws."

We've discussed various legal DRM wranglings before, including how the Russian version of copyright infringement is handled. By all Russian laws, AllOfMP3 is operating legally. In fact, the company is a model of legal goodie-two-shoes.

Clearly, if the RIAA wants to bring the site down, it should probably waste its hard-stolen money on the proper American way of doing business - buy off enough of our congressmen to threaten Russian trade. In the meantime, it doesn't look like AllOfMP3 is going anywhere, despite the $1.65 trillion dollar lawsuit.

Well, they'll huff and they'll puff...

Got a thought on either the (rather absurd) suit or the (rather entertaining) response? Let us know in our forums.

46 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

Sim0n 28th December 2006, 19:38

Its like a game of Tennis.... the RIAA are turning out to be Tim Henmen, trying so hard every game, but being embrassed by the younger, less fit, russian :p

MiNiMaL_FuSS 28th December 2006, 19:42

RIAA will end up looking stupid and completely useless once more...

...perhaps all they are planning some sort of multi-million-dollar sitcom :)

Mosey 28th December 2006, 20:08

The RIAA appear to be becoming more of a joke each day. I can't help but feel very happy about iit.

oasked 28th December 2006, 20:23

They know that $1.65 trillion is a silly number, so what do they expect? The RIAA are ridiculous. Think of all the money they could save by dumping all of their lawyers. :D

Tyinsar 28th December 2006, 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by oasked
They know that $1.65 trillion is a silly number, so what do they expect? The RIAA are ridiculous. Think of all the money they could save by dumping all of their lawyers. :D

Any good suggestions as to where to dump them?

Quote:

"Neener!" - AllOfMP3 was just handed a $1.65T lawsuit. The response was along the lines of "Dudes, are you high?"

BWAHAHAHAHA! ;) nice paraphrase.

Spaced_invader 28th December 2006, 21:00

hmmm if I had 1.65Trillion dollars, you know what I'd do? buy the rights to all the music known to man and sell a copy for a penny a track.. oh... hang on... someones already selling it for the right price... silly me..

[edit] isn't it funny how 1.65T$ equates to just about £0.85B some people don't know what a billion really is...

M4RTIN 28th December 2006, 21:07

i wonder if the leader of the riaa was up on the tv screen and did a doctor evil style "1.6 trillion dollars"..

like this
http://arbyte.us/blog_archive/2005/11/drevil_million_dollars.jpg

it worked better in my head than written lol

Cthippo 28th December 2006, 21:31

I dunno, I have to wonder if this won't end up hurting AOMP3. I mean, when the WTO BS was going on every other week there was a story about how they were going the be shut down any day now. I mean, you can't BUY that kind of advertising! Now that the RIAA has had to resort to their trusty aresnal or lawyers since their wholly owned politicians failed. Go AOMP3!!! ;)

DXR_13KE 28th December 2006, 21:38

M4RTIN i craped my pants laughing about that post!!!!!

eat this RIAA!!!!!!!

edit: this just sunk in:

1.6 TRILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!!! HOLLY F****** S***!!!!!!!!

sui_winbolo 28th December 2006, 21:56

RIAA is a silly goose. :)

specofdust 28th December 2006, 22:00

Since we're on the subject, I couldn't reccomend allofmp3's service more. Excellent store.

Good luck to the RIAA on suing a small russian company for a little under the GDP of the United Kingdom. I'm sure they'll do just fine.

Solidus 28th December 2006, 22:00

lol i would have loved it if allofmp3 responded with "LOL, how about you come here and make us pay"

Nothing the RIAA can do....haha.

banshee256 28th December 2006, 22:24

Could someone please post the reply or throw me a link or something, so I can actually read the reply AllOfMP3 made? I happen to be so fortunate that I live in Denmark and my ISP, like almost all other Danish ISPs, has blocked that particular site...

specofdust 28th December 2006, 22:33

Wow, danish ISP's are blocking sites they don't like? That's pretty lame given the fact that there's nothing illegal in and of itself about allofmp3.

Response in full

An attempt by the major record labels to use a U.S. court to as part of its campaign against AllofMP3.com is imprudent.

AllofMP3 understands that several US record label companies filed a lawsuit against Mediaservices in New York. This suit is unjustified as AllofMP3.com does not operate in New York. Certainly the labels are free to file any suit they wish, despite knowing full well that AllofMP3.com operates legally in Russia.

In the mean time, AllofMP3.com plans to continue to operate legally and comply with all Russian laws.

Breach 28th December 2006, 22:34

Yeah, good luck RIAA. US threats are basically no good on a non US business. As if others haven't been trying for months or years to get Allofmp3 eradicated. Maybe they should just get a hint and accept that ...people like cheap downloads and allofmp3 has a perfect business model unlike their own aging way of doing business.

banshee256 28th December 2006, 22:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by specofdust
Wow, danish ISP's are blocking sites they don't like? That's pretty lame given the fact that there's nothing illegal in and of itself about allofmp3.

Well, it's not by choice, I can tell you that. There was a lawsuit or something and one ISP was told, by the court, to deny access to AllOfMP3 to their customers. The other ISPs saw the writting on the wall and denied access to their users too.

specofdust 28th December 2006, 22:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by banshee256
Well, it's not by choice, I can tell you that. There was a lawsuit or something and one ISP was told, by the court, to deny access to AllOfMP3 to their customers. The other ISPs saw the writting on the wall and denied access to their users too.

That is incredibly lame. I guess you can probably use proxies no bother, but it still sucks for your country to be doing that.

ozstrike 28th December 2006, 22:58

Wow...that's a lot of money. They will never get it though.
I've used allofmp3 a couple of times, great service, great site.

Aankhen 28th December 2006, 23:02

LMAO. The RIAA got told.

MrBurritoMan 28th December 2006, 23:03

i love it...what did they think allofmp3 was going to do...fly on over to new york with a check???!?!?!?!? geez these people really need to get a grip on reality. if i was them i would work with the Russian government to get the royalty funds already set aside to the authors instead of trying to get their way. i swear, the system is already there and allofmp3 is following the law of the country in which it operates. man some idiots have too much power & time on their hands...

banshee256 28th December 2006, 23:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by specofdust
That is incredibly lame. I guess you can probably use proxies no bother, but it still sucks for your country to be doing that.

Well, I guess I could, but I have never used AllOfMP3 or had use for such a site. I just think it's rather... interresting, that a private company can dictate what the Danish people can and cannot access on the internet. That acutally scares me a bit, 'cause if they could, what's to stop the next company from file suit and get something else banned?

Sparrowhawk 29th December 2006, 00:53

I still think The Pirate Bay's response was funnier, about how Sweeden isn't in the US, and how US laws don't apply there...

DXR_13KE 29th December 2006, 01:09

$1.65 trillion = $1 650 000 000 000????????........ OMG!!!!!!!! i bet even the entire country doesn't have that kind of money......

edit: sorry for the money rambling but it is a lot of cash...... :(

Spaceraver 29th December 2006, 01:20

banshee256, that isnt true that all Danish ISP's have blocked access to AOMP3, i can access it just fine, and im from Denmark too

Tyinsar 29th December 2006, 02:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by DXR_13KE
...
edit: this just sunk in:

1.6 TRILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!!! HOLLY F****** S***!!!!!!!!

If it wasn't such a waste of money I think AllOfMP3 should counter sue (for slandering their name) and ask the judge (Dr Evil style) for a bazillion dollars - that's right judge - write it down: a "Bazillion" dollars make that a bazillion dollars and a pony.

How on Earth did the RIAA come up with the value of $1,650,000,000,000 :?

bpublisher 29th December 2006, 03:12

Wow... Thats insaine. Im just worried that even if this site doesnt get destroyed, then it might get blocked from American isp's. That would suck.

CollinstheClown 29th December 2006, 03:16

Well, thanks RIAA. I never heard of AOMP3, now I think I'll start using it. :)

-CollinstheClown

speedfreek 29th December 2006, 04:11

Quote:

Clearly, if the RIAA wants to bring the site down, it should probably waste its hard-stolen money on the proper American way of doing business - buy off enough of our congressmen to threaten Russian trade. In the meantime, it doesn't look like AllOfMP3 is going anywhere, despite the $1.65 trillion dollar lawsuit.

Now theres someone who knows how politics work and how to get things done. However they need to buy off more congressmen then they currently have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyinsar
How on Earth did the RIAA come up with the value of $1,650,000,000,000 :?

Same thing I was wondering.

Tulatin 29th December 2006, 04:45

I'm assuming it's their usual $2.99 per track - .01 * tracks sold.

Plus I love how ISPs are blocking access to the site. Freedom of speech? Hardly.

flabber 29th December 2006, 07:51

Well, we now know for sure that all that "stolen" money isn't going to the musicians ;)
And I'll bet you they'll lose from the Russians as well, hehe.

One thing though... does anyone know whatever happened to that millionair that was
sued by the RIAA (or was it MPAA?), which on his turn, said he'd throw in millions
just to prove their wrong and make sure they learned a lesson?

TTrav 29th December 2006, 08:17

Every time I read an article about the RIAA suing someone, I download another album out of spite. :D

R_H 29th December 2006, 08:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tulatin
I'm assuming it's their usual $2.99 per track - .01 * tracks sold.

Plus I love how ISPs are blocking access to the site. Freedom of speech? Hardly.

I read on SD.net that they're sueing for ~150K per track downloaded

airchie 29th December 2006, 09:14

Every time I read another thread about the RIAA it makes me laugh.

When will they realise that they can't stop filesharing.
DRM is nothing but a hinderance to people who actually buy CDs.
All their heavy-handed bully-boy tactics is just costing them a fortune in legal fees and gifting massive publicity to sites like allofmp3.

If someone could just sit them down and appeal to their greedy side (which it seems is the only trait they have) and explain that if they fired all the lawyers and paid developers to develop a way of embracing the new filesharing system(s), they'd be making waaaaay more money.

Why do they think allofmp3 is so popular anyway?

And yeah, what did happen with the RIAA lawsuit on that millionaire? :D

whisperwolf 29th December 2006, 09:29

RIAA dropped the case so a legal precedent would not be achieved i believe

airchie 29th December 2006, 10:25

Damn, was there any word of him couter-sueing for them wasting his time and causing undue stress etc?

eddtox 29th December 2006, 13:42

LMAO!! I was just on wikipedia. It says that Russia's GDP is $1.576 Trillion! Good luck RIAA!! NOT! :P

-ed out

kenco_uk 29th December 2006, 15:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyinsar
If it wasn't such a waste of money I think AllOfMP3 should counter sue (for slandering their name) and ask the judge (Dr Evil style) for a bazillion dollars - that's right judge - write it down: a "Bazillion" dollars make that a bazillion dollars and a pony.

How on Earth did the RIAA come up with the value of $1,650,000,000,000 :?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaa lol :D :D

Uh dear, that was good.

Seriously, how else does the US figure it's going to pay out for pensions in the near future? It's got to find money from somewhere. Why not just sue the world for sharing the same air as its intellectual properties?

Sh00ter 29th December 2006, 17:02

well the riaa have finally done it, theyve finally done something thats made me want to buy some music - shame all the pennies will go to russia :D

turbosatan 29th December 2006, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by R_H
I read on SD.net that they're sueing for ~150K per track downloaded

150k per track

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH W*****s

well they could drop that down to 149,995 per track if they knock off what they pay the artist in question as im sure tey wouldnt pay them as they didnt sell the track

Tyinsar 29th December 2006, 20:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenco_uk
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyinsar
If it wasn't such a waste of money I think AllOfMP3 should counter sue (for slandering their name) and ask the judge (Dr Evil style) for a bazillion dollars - that's right judge - write it down: a "Bazillion" dollars make that a bazillion dollars and a pony.

How on Earth did the RIAA come up with the value of $1,650,000,000,000 :?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaa lol :D :D

Uh dear, that was good.

:D Thanks - I was inspired by M4RTIN's earlier post (#8) .

Kipman725 30th December 2006, 01:57

1.65 TRILLION :O is that the largest law suit in history?? no one can afford to pay that much.. not even an enitre country never mind all of mp3.

specofdust 30th December 2006, 02:14

Well, there are 8 countries existing in the world that could afford to pay it with one year or less of their GDP, and the EU block could manage it in under 6 weeks if it decided to magically turn GDP into petty cash.

We are talking a ridiculous sum of money though, they're charging 250,000 USD per song if I remember rightly. No way in hell they'll ever get it - I guess they're going for publicity though since they want AOMP3 shut down, and no figure would help get that more than a "so-big-it's-funny" one.

trailblazer 30th December 2006, 18:56

You would think there would be a better way to handle this. If artists are due money then why not just work on a solution to that. If the Russians start to take this personal, then the RIAA might read up a bit on Russian history, the great Napoleon could not defeat them, niether could the mighty German army. The Russians are sitting on large oil and gas reserves, any threat to these or any prospect of price hikes may make cheap music seem less of an issue after all !

simosaurus 2nd January 2007, 11:49

how do u even buy stuff off that website, it doesent accept credit cards, and u gotta use some XRost thing which i dont trust

specofdust 2nd January 2007, 11:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by simosaurus
how do u even buy stuff off that website, it doesent accept credit cards, and u gotta use some XRost thing which i dont trust

Well since Xrost is the only way to pay for many people with major credit cards, it's use them or don't. They're safe though. Gotta put the credit into alltunes as well. It all seems a little convoluted but once you know how to do it it's easy.

Cthippo 2nd January 2007, 19:13

Agrees with spec, Xrost works fine. I've yet to hear of anyone having trouble with them, and it would be all over the web (courtesy of the RIAA) if it wern't totally aboveboard.