OT: Nearly free MP3s -- but a problem

Guys, please forgive the intrusion into your newsgroup's topic ... I'm trying to reach a large number of people in order to influence events. And save people loads of problems. And make a nice resource more (safely) available to those same people.

Everybody knows that MP3s at $0.99 a pop aren't exactly a wonderful deal, considering downloading saves the recording industry the cost of producing CDs, printing, jewel cases, distribution, billing, etc., etc.. Enter AllOfMP3, a Russian site which is apparently legal (so far) in Russia and charging around a tenth to a fifth of that, depending on the bit rate (i.e., the file sizes) you're downloading. They say they contribute their fair share to the recording industry, but of course if they do the artists are not likely to be getting anything much out of it. Despite the questionable ethics of their operation ... and of dealing with their operation ... that's still a tempting proposition You can argue the ethics 'til we're all blue in the face, but I'll say this much about it -- if you're downloading music that you've already bought (CD's albums, tapes) then I personally don't have many qualms about it. I'll gladly pay $1 to $3 an album to avoid having to convert even CDs to MP3s, not even to speak of vinyl and cassettes, and I don't feel like the artist has been shorted. OK, well that's at least somewhat debateable, but I figure I've done my part for the artist if I've bought their music in whatever form, and certainly I figure I've done enough for the recording industry.

Now, AllOfMP3 makes it easy to find and download whatever you want, at whatever bit rate you specify. The BIG problem comes in making payment. They gladly accept credit cards, naturally, but are YOU going to give your credit card to a Russian company via their Web site? MANY, MANY PEOPLE DO, however. AllOfMP3 is one of the most popular sites on the Net right now. And it turns out (not particularly surprisingly) that SOME people HAVE begin reporting credit card fraud (ostensibly originating is Russia) after paying AllOfMP3, although the number and percentage -- SO FAR -- are apparently rather small. It's probably not AllOfMP3 that is at fault, but rather the payment processing company that they use, or some hacker who has gotten in via a backdoor because of shoddy security, or just a dishonest employee.

BUT, AllOfMP3 offers another way to pay -- anonymously. No, not PayPal (which has stopped dealing with them directly, perhaps because of the thorny legal and ethical questions), but rather another Russian company called XROST ... which DOES deal with PayPal, or so they have said. You buy a credit in increments of $10 and then you can apply that credit anonymously and pretty securely to AllOfMP3. You're buffered by two layers of anonymity, and although that's no absolute guarantee, it appears (from doing some behind the scenes research) that it's highly unlikely that anyone would ever be able and willing to go so far as to find out the names of those who download file from this "service".

Not so fast, though. XROST isn't working, and apparently hasn't been working for several months at least. A disclaimer on their site indicates: "Currently, our service is being relocated to a new payment provider in order to improve security and performance. During the relocation you will be unable to order new PIN codes; you will still be able to see your previous orders."

Shucks -- looks like we're snookered if we want to keep ourselves relatively safe. That is unless we can light a fire under someone or get things moving in another direction. TOWARDS THAT END, if you are buying MP3s from this AllOfMP3 service, please STOP. And ask anyone you know who is using the service to stop also. Instead, send a message to these people to indicate that you are not going to support them unless they come up with a secure and anonymous way to pay. Send the same message to XROST. Indications are they may be the same people, but even if they aren't the impact of your message is thereby increased by sending a message to both Internet entities.

Reply to
Crabby Patty
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The whole thing was probably just a scam to get credit card numbers in the first place.

Mark

Reply to
MM

Reply to
Crabby Patty

I wouldn't give my card # to anyone based in eastern Europe.

Mark

Reply to
Mark Mossberg

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