After almost a year under threat, it seems that Allofmp3.com has finally been closed down by the Russian government. However, "an alternative site run by the same Moscow company has already emerged. MediaServices says that mp3Sparks.com is legal under Russian law, using many of the same arguments advanced in support of allofmp3.com," says The Times.
On the other side of the pond, Vivendi's Universal Music Group has "notified Apple that it will not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes," reports The New York Times. This is not the same as withdrawing its music from the service.
The story says:
But some music executives have been chafing at the flat rate that Apple has insisted upon in its contracts with the big record labels, and they have been pressing publicly or privately for the right to charge Apple more for popular songs to capitalize on demand or, in the event of special promotions, to charge less. Edgar Bronfman Jr., the chairman of Warner Music Group, reinforced that idea at a recent investor conference, saying "we believe that not every song, not every artist, not every album, is created equal."
At the same time, Mr. Jobs has refused the industry's calls for Apple to license its proprietary copy restriction software to other manufacturers. Music executives want the software to be shared so that services other than iTunes can sell music that can be played on the iPod, and so that other devices can play songs bought from iTunes.
