A new Russian web site is offering millions of copyrighted music MP3s for free. Tagoo, a popular Russian start-up is attracting millions of Web surfers and providing a huge Variety of MP3 music tracks and full albums to its members.
Russia has long been known as a hotbed of Web piracy. Last summer, for example, authorities finally succeeded in shutting down the mega-popular AllofMP3.com, a pirated music side that charged in the range of one to two cents per MP3 download. The site failed to pay royalties to any of the artists and music labels involved, and after several years online were finally shut down on order of the Russian Ministry of Commerce.
Likewise, the Swedish MP3 download site known as “Pirate Bay” was finally thwarted. Swedish authorities have arrested four individuals in connection with the web site, though it is likely the men will only receive token jail sentence or perhaps even probation..
But just as soon as the authorities are able to close one free download site, 10 more seem to appear out of nowhere to replace them. Tagoo is just the latest example of this phenomena, and it’s growing popularity underlines the difficulty officials face in controlling copyrighted material online.
Recently, Tagoo was listed on the hot list of the social bookmarking web site Del.icio.us, bringing an even greater rush of Web traffic to the pirate download site. But on that day, the site was down — at least temporarily — presenting only an error page warning that the URL had “too many connections.”
You can be sure though, that Tagoo will be back online very soon, and it would appear that the only reason the site is on accessible at the moment is due to its staggering popularity.
Russian sites, along with a few Scandinavian and eastern European counterparts, are becoming the Napsters of the new millennium. There are many reasons why, including widespread public opinion in Europe — and elsewhere — that large American corporations, such as the major music labels, are corrupt and fueled by greed. Therefore, even many of the most law-abiding and mild-mannered Europeans see no harm in getting one over on the US recording industry.
Of course, it doesn’t help matters that the US’s public image is at an all-time low right now. Even US-friendly allies like Sweden and Norway find themselves having very little sympathy for anything American at the moment, and especially American-based global conglomerates.
It’s hard to imagine that simply downloading illegal MP3s could be a sign of the US’s tarnished image abroad, but the unbridled success of European pirating sites like Tagoo could be partially attributed to a strong cultural bias against the policies of the United States over the last few years.
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