Ben Reid
8 Oct 2006 14:30
AllofMP3.com, the Russian music download site selling Western pop music at extremely low prices, has vowed to continue operations, even though the US says it is affecting Russia's bid for World Trade Organisation (WTO) entry.
As the troubled WTO talks resume after breaking down back in July, US negotiators have repeatedly mentioned the same issue as one of the main problems - AllofMP3, which defended its conduct in an interview with AFP on Friday.
"Washington is using Russia's WTO aspirations as a lever to help US companies, said, Ilya Levitov, spokesman for AllofMP3's holding company, MediaServices Inc. "They're trying to help their companies in the competition with us because our prices are much lower."
"We're totally in compliance with Russian law.... It's a Russian company owned by Russian people. It's a Russian business," he added. As for foreign buyers, "we announce on our website to every user that he or she should check the laws of the country in which he lives."
In response to U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab taking a swipe at the site earlier last week, Kommersant newspaper quoted a representative of the site as saying, "Susan Schwab markets us so effectively -- she could already be our press secretary."
Source:
Yahoo! News