Danish court blocks access to Allofmp3.com

 

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By Simon Aughton

Posted on 27 Oct 2006 at 14:39

A Danish court has ordered telecoms company Tele 2 to block Internet access to the controversial Russian music downloads site Allofmp3.com.

The court unconditionally backed a complaint by the local branch of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI) Denmark, which represents the major record companies and has been campaigning vigorously for the site to be shut down.

'This judgement is one more step along the road to getting this rogue site closed down,' said John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of IFPI. 'Allofmp3.com illegally offers for sale copies of music that it has no right to reproduce or distribute. It provides unfair competition to the nearly 400 legal sites worldwide that respect the rights of composers, artists and record producers.'

Tele 2, a Swedish company that operates in 19 countries including the UK, said it will appeal the ruling but declined to comment further.

The IFPI is also backing legal action against Allofmp3 in several other countries, including its homeland, the UK, Germany and Italy.