Allofmp3.com shutdown, Mp3sparks still up

It looks like allofmp3.com has finally been closed down. Almost.

The embattled online music store appears to have quietly lost its battle for survival just in time for Putin's two-day visit to Kennebunkport, Maine.

The web site has long been a thorn in relations, and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab sharply warned last fall that it had to be closed before Russia could join the World Trade Organization.

Early last month, most online music stores registered by MediaServices, the owner of AllofMP3.com, became inaccessible to their millions of clients. AllofMP3.com itself would not load Sunday, while visitors to AllofMP3.ru, a mirror site, were greeted with a no-entry sign and a note saying, "We are sorry but the server is closed for maintenance."

Not that this will change much as allofmp3 has prepared for the closure of its domain, creating a rather familiar sister site called Mp3sparks (mp3sparks.com.) Wikipedia has all the details:

In late April 2007, two apparent sister sites of AllOfMP3 emerged. MP3Sparks, and MemphisMembers. Both sites use a layout and feel that is similar to the original AllOfMP3 website, and both are owned and operated by the same company that runs AllofMP3.com^{[citation needed]}.

MP3Sparks is a virtual clone of AllofMP3 with a few options changed and different colors. The site is licensed by the Rightholders Federation for Collective Copyright Management of Works Used Interactively(NP-FAIR), instead of by the Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems (ROMS). This is a key difference as it gives them legitimacy in the eyes of their payment processors Chronopay and E-Centru.

MP3Sparks users are theoretically able to fund their account via VISA, MasterCard and other credit cards without restriction{{Fact|date=June 2007}). This is quite true for some, while others still get the familiar message that credit card transactions are not available at the moment. This differing behavior has now been determined to be based on the IP that the user contacting MP3Sparks is coming from. Some IPs are blocked, for whatever reason. This has been shown to be the case because users who find that they cannot pay on MP3Sparks from their own IP addresses, often CAN pay when they use some form of proxy server which changes their IP to one from somewhere else.

Some AllOfMP3 users have reported receiving an invitation to MP3Sparks seemingly at random when viewing their balance screen. If the invitation is accepted, that member's history, balance and status is deleted immediately from the AllofMP3 website and is transferred over to MP3Sparks website.

Unlike MP3Sparks, Memphis Members is reserved for those individuals that have been high money spenders on either AllofMP3. Using a look that's similar to the classic AllofMP3 layout, it allows members to have more options than the standard invited member as well as being able to fund more money to their accounts in $25, $50, and $100 increments (in comparison to the default $10, $15, $25 and $50 increments on AllofMP3, and $10, $15, $25 increments available on MP3Sparks.) Memphis Members are given their own link to the semi-stealth website (hxxp://username.memphismembers.com) which they can use to access the site whenever they choose. When a person who is not a member of the Memphis Members website tries to access this page, they are greeted with a blank page that contains the words "nothing here." While there has been rumors of the Memphis Members website being linked to credit card information being resold (unbeknownst to the owner) on the black market for use in credit card fraud overseas, none of those claims have been substantiated as being true. It is suspected that these are actually rumors being floated by the IFPI and the RIAA to scare off potential members.

It has been reported in previous versions of this article that MP3Sparks is an entryway for users to become Memphis Members and that they will be sent invitations when they have spent $300. This is incorrect. In fact the administrators of Media Services have told people inquiring that they will not consider MP3Sparks users for MemphisMembers because they "already can pay." MemphisMembers seems to be reserved for current long time AllofMP3 users who have spent in excess of $300 on the site.

With the potential (not at all impending) closure of the AllofMP3 website during the summer of 2007, many people feel that these are shrewd business moves by MediaServices, Inc. (the parent company of AllofMP3) to stay in business and run under the radar of the Recording Industry Association of America, one of the major driving forces responsible for the crippling and destruction of AllofMP3.com. Whether or not the RIAA will take further action against MediaServices for their actions is unknown at this time.

For those counting, I believe this is at least the 11th time "Allofmp3 has been gone for good." While their name may be permanently gone, their services are up and running.