UK Police bust Allofmp3 eBay voucher scheme
Published May 22nd, 2007
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) announced today that earlier this month the UK’s Metropolitan Police had successfully broken up a scheme in which a man facilitated the sale of digital downloads on Allofmp3.com by advertising and selling vouchers through auction sites such as eBay and the website allofmp3vouchers.co.uk.
The 25yo London male was allegedly the UK-based European agent for allofmp3.com, charging £10 ($13 USD) per voucher, taking payment from European customers and transferring the cash into various offshore accounts operated by the site’s Russian owners.
John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of the IFPI said that “Allofmp3.com is illegal in Russia, the US, the UK and everywhere else in the world. The action announced today is the latest to highlight Allofmp3.com’s long and undistinguished history of stealing music from artists, composers and record producers and selling it at a profit.”
Metropolitan Police officers seized computer equipment and paperwork for further investigation as the unlicensed sale of music is illegal in the UK, police executed the raid under Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006, legislation introduced into UK law in January 2007 specifically to combat online fraud. This is the first time the new fraud legislation has been used in a copyright infringement related case.
BPI, the British record industry’s trade association, chief executive Geoff Taylor warned music fans about “…voucher schemes like this one that seek to prop up an illegal service that rips off artists,” and that “… trying to profit from the illegal distribution of music online is an offence with serious consequences.”
This is the latest financial blow to Allofmp3.com after Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal were all pressured to stop processing payments from customers of the site. The IFPI and others are trying to choke off all of its sources of revenue, and this latest blow in the UK only adds to Allofmp3’s financial woes.
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