Topic: Russian prosecutor wants jail time, fine for former AllOfMP3 exec

[Amker]

First AllOfMP3.com was shuttered, and now a former executive could be going to jail. Heise Online reports that Moscow's public prosecutor has just announced that he wants to see a three-year sentence handed down against Denis Kvasov. Kvasov, a former owner of the site, has been on trial for aiding copyright infringement, and he may not be able to escape jail time by simply paying a fine (although a 15 million ruble fine is also being demanded).
At this point, it's difficult to tell what is really going on behind the scenes. Despite the prosecution of Kvasov and the unavailability of AllOfMP3.com, authorities have apparently made no move against the similar MP3sparks.com site nor against the offline music browser Alltunes (both of which appear to be owned by the same people who backed AllOfMP3).

The IFPI has had success shutting down credit card payments and intimidating voucher sellers, but a Russian court recently ruled that Visa's Russian partner acted improperly by blocking payments. Whatever else the operators of AllOfMP3 may be, they are certainly tenacious; each time steps are taken against them, they find some way to keep going.

The US seems unlikely to be satisfied with something as simple as a name change, and it has been pressuring Russia relentlessly over the issue of intellectual property. Russia, which wants to join the WTO, has publicly agreed to shutter AllOfMP3 but has yet to act against its clones. Stay tuned for more details from this bizarre legal tango as it unfolds.
ars technica