Originally Posted by murphy
Several people want it to be legal, and are willing to contort themselves to make it seem so. But come on, does this site really pass the sniff test? Really, if one is comfortable taking music and not having the people who created it be compensated, fine. It's none of my business. But to claim this service is any more legal than gnutella or the illegal torrent sites is wrong.
Having it be endorsed by a FlyerTalk moderator is really lame. Why lock
this thread, and then endorse a site whose entire business is based on selling other people's property?
Legal and wrong / ethical are two different things.
Are they not innocent until proven guilty? I haven't seen any proof that the service is illegal from someone who has the authority to say for certain.
The people who created the music are being compensated. The site pays ROMS, the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society, which in turn pays the artists their due royalty.
It's the RIAA and the labels who are not compensated in the same amount that they would be if the music were sold in the US.
My understanding is that it is basically the same as going to Russia and buying the physical CD there. CDs cost about that much in Russia.
I don't understand why you feel like there is something wrong when all the evidence suggests that there is in fact nothing illegal happening. I haven't seen any proof that there is anything illegal.
I do think that this is a loophole, but there is nothing illegal about taking advantage of a loophole.