[sleeper]

Hi there. Been watching the forum for a few days. There may be a post or two on the issue already. If so, please disregard. I found this article today that I thought I'd share in case some of you in the US are experiencing guilt over downloading music from Russian sites (I personally have no such guilt). Here you go.

Wal-Mart sells DRM-free songs
Mega-retailer's online store offers tunes at 94 cents apiece

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Wal-Mart's online music store started selling songs free of copy-protection technology Tuesday for 94 cents per tune.

The songs from the Rolling Stones, Coldplay and Maroon 5, among others, will play on most portable media devices, including Apple Inc.'s iPod.

Although many independent music labels have for years sold their tunes without copy restrictions, major recording companies have insisted on digital-rights management, or DRM, technology in hopes of curbing online piracy.

Other outlets are also selling DRM-free music, including Amazon.com Inc., Best Buy Co. and RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody. The format is also sold through gBox Inc., which gets referrals from Google searches for Universal's music.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer and biggest seller of recorded music, said it plans to expand its DRM-free offerings in the future. It also will continue to sell songs in Microsoft Corp.'s WMA format for 88 cents each.


Wal-Mart sells DRM-free songs - Tech News & Reviews - MSNBC.com

[Bruno]

Nice, but...

"Music Downloads are not available outside the United States

You must download music from a location within the 50 states of the United States. Sorry, but Music Downloads are not available to people residing at military addresses, commonwealths, territories, protectorates, or possessions of the United States that are outside of the 50 states."

Those guys yelling "Don't use Russian sites: there ARE legal stores!" should remember that most of these are US-only... what about the rest of the world?
And... is it really difficult for a US store to sell its tracks worldwide, then give the money monthly (or quarterly or whatever) to the local record labels and copyright agencies?

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Nice, but...

"Music Downloads are not available outside the United States

You must download music from a location within the 50 states of the United States. Sorry, but Music Downloads are not available to people residing at military addresses, commonwealths, territories, protectorates, or possessions of the United States that are outside of the 50 states."

Those guys yelling "Don't use Russian sites: there ARE legal stores!" should remember that most of these are US-only... what about the rest of the world?
And... is it really difficult for a US store to sell its tracks worldwide, then give the money monthly (or quarterly or whatever) to the local record labels and copyright agencies?

You are quite right Bruno..not very friendly of them..and these no DRM Corp sites are still way over priced for the low quality of download offered.
It's funny the only US music site I use, which is Emusic has no DRM..legal..
about 28cts a D/L and welcomes and encourages the Global community,
and as a US citizen is the only site in the US site I use...umm..Gee I wonder why..lol ...

If my fellow members here are not allowed in .. I don't want in either...

Corporate greed is not my thing

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

It's funny the only US music site I use, which is Emusic has no DRM..legal..

eMusic is fantastic! I've been a subscriber since 2001...

Also, they have actually listened to their European users (who were complaining because there were too many US-only albums) and they have opened "Emusic Europe" just for us!

Aren't they lovely?

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by Bruno

eMusic is fantastic! I've been a subscriber since 2001...

Also, they have actually listened to their European users (who were complaining because there were too many US-only albums) and they have opened "Emusic Europe" just for us!

Aren't they lovely?

Bruno...I wasn't aware that they opened a Emusic Europe site...that's very
cool..I know some times on the site we used to get not available in UK or not
available for US ...but not at all now...now I know why..this is really great
news for everyone..is there a different url for the europe site ?

and yes they are lovely

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

is there a different url for the europe site ?

The URL is the same: they probably check your IP address when you log in, then they show you the European pages, complete with the "Emusic Europe" logo.

And this gives me an excuse to test the posting of images for the first time...

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by Bruno

The URL is the same: they probably check your IP address when you log in, then they show you the European pages, complete with the "Emusic Europe" logo.

And this gives me an excuse to test the posting of images for the first time...

Wow..really cool...never seen it before....Thanks!

[Mellifluous]

To get around location/IP checking if I want to purchase/download something from America, I use UltraReach

Ultrareach

This is a free application that automatically gives you a proxy that makes any sites think you're in America.

I use it for streaming TV shows on Fox and ABC's websites, and have also used it to buy games as well as to use Amazon's Unbox video download service.

It's amazing how many great services are restricted to the US, but UltraReach provides a great workaround. Also, paying for things is usually no problem because just the card details suffice; they don't seem to check address details so you can grab a random address off the internet.

[solaris]

Originally Posted by Mellifluous

To get around location/IP checking if I want to purchase/download something from America, I use UltraReach

Ultrareach

This is a free application that automatically gives you a proxy that makes any sites think you're in America.

I use it for streaming TV shows on Fox and ABC's websites, and have also used it to buy games as well as to use Amazon's Unbox video download service.

It's amazing how many great services are restricted to the US, but UltraReach provides a great workaround. Also, paying for things is usually no problem because just the card details suffice; they don't seem to check address details so you can grab a random address off the internet.

Hi Mel.

Thank you for that link, which will come in handy

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Mellifluous

This is a free application that automatically gives you a proxy that makes any sites think you're in America.

Thanks Mellifluous, that's great! I'll give it a try!
As the documentation says, the program is apparently able to defeat the Chinese government firewalls too... not bad!