“I’ve just bought an album for just over $1 from a Russian mp3 site. It claims to be legal. What’s the catch?”

As the old saying nearly goes, if it’s too good to be true, you’re probably breaking the law. Russian website allofmp3.com is lauded by Robin Hood-types who bemoan the cost of downloading music from services such as iTunes. “I buy music almost exclusively from allofmp3.com,” writes one crusading, but anonymous reader, “because the quality is high, and the prices are low. Is it legal? I’d like to think so.”

Unsurprisingly, its legality has been closely questioned. On a webpage of supposedly reassuring text, allofmp3.com claims to pay a flat fee to a Russian royalty collection agency called ROMS, which in return grants it the rights to sell mp3s via the internet. So far so good, but there’s a question mark over whether ROMS, supposedly gatekeepers of intellectual property, can officially grant these rights. It claims that, under Russian copyright law, it doesn’t have to seek permission of the copyright holders before permitting allofmp3.com to sell their music – in itself rather dubious – and there is some debate in the industry as to where the money ends up. Musician and DJ Ant Chapman writes: “I know of no writer or performer who has ever received a single penny for sales at allofmp3.com. This is generally ignored during semi-informed debate about its legal status.”

Russian media distributors have long sold cheap CDs and paid low royalties in order to stimulate sales in a depressed economy, but this has been with copyright holders’ permission, and on the understanding that none of the copies will be exported. However, the internet makes exporting music easier than taking a CD round to a neighbour’s barbecue, and while these downloads may, through the absence of relevant legislation, be quasi-legal in Russia and conveniently priced for the local market, allofmp3.com have incurred the music industry’s wrath by selling worldwide. “The site says, a tad disingenuously,” writes Lesley Malone, “that the end user has the responsibility of observing their local copyright laws.” British citizens who like to believe that paying for a service makes it legitimate should think again; the BPI this week refused to rule out prosecuting those who use the site. Meanwhile, pressure continues to be put on Russia to shut down allofmp3.com, and recent reports suggest that its continued existence could even jeapordize Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organisation. “To start beating piracy,” writes Russian citizen Sergey Kiselyov, wearily, “you really have to change the Soviet mindset of communal ownership.” But in the shorter term, Russian copyright law is due to change on September 1, and this should close the loophole that the service exploits. Its existence beyond the autumn looks uncertain.

Next week’s question is from Emma Sowden: “I have no knowledge of HTML, but need to get a decent looking website up and running fairly quickly. What are my options?”