CDT Names Bogus Music Sites

The Center for Democracy and Technology has released a list of over 30 Web sites it says promise access to mainstream music...but don't have the licenses to back it up.

The music industry has cried wolf about digital music piracy for most of a decade, and while three of the four major music labels are now offering digital downloads in DRM-free MP3 format through one venue or another, there’s no doubt there are plenty of hucksters on the Internet who will be happy to accept money in exchange for access to mainstream popular music downloads. The catch, of course, is that these folks don’t actually have any rights or licenses to offer music for sale. And, of course, the language used on these sites gets awfully fuzzy about the legal status of the music they offer, preying on unsuspecting youngsters, Internet newbies, and folks for whom English may not be a primary language.

Now, the Center for Democracy and Technology has published a list of more than 30 sites it claims are not licensed in any way to distribute a significant amount of music from major music labels.

The list is a followup on a 2005 complaint the CDT made to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission alleging two Web-based music download sites were claiming to offer “100 percent legal” music and video downloads for a subscription fee, when in reality the fee merely enabled subscribers to download peer-to-peer file sharing software. The FTC went after one of the outfits—mp3downloadcity.com—and reached a settlement, the CDT says those sort of bait-and-switch practices are still commonplace on the Internet, at the very least creating consumer confusion if not engaging in wanton copyright violation and fraud.

According to the CDT, the 30-odd sites charge fees to users and either state or imply they offer music from major music labels, but do not appear (according to the RIAA) to have any right to distribute major label music in the United States, and did not respond to queries from the CDT to explain how they’re operating.

The following sites appear on the CDT’s current list of potentially deceptive music download services. The list is not intended to be comprehensive, and anyone with questions about an “off brand” music download service should check out all the material at the CDT site. Remember the first rule of being a smart consumer: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

• allcoolmusic.com
• allmusicdownloads.com
• e-mp3now.com
• easymusicdownload.com
• ezmp3s.com
• free-music-downloads.cc
• freeaccessmp3.com
• freemusicnow.cc
• howdoiwin.com/recommends/Movies
• imp3download.com
• imusicaccess.com/index.asp
• imusicsearch.com
• klitetk.com
• mimusicamp3.com
• mp3-all-free.com
• mp3-download-lyrics.com
• mp3-freebie.com
• mp3-freedom.com
• mp3downloadhq.com
• mp3downloadnet.com
• mp3downloadsnow.com
• mp3favorites.com
• mp3musichq.com
• mp3rocket.com
• musicjustfree.com
• my-free-songs.com
• my-music-now.com
• myipodaccess.com
• mymusicinc.com
• netmusicaccess.com
• netmusicsite.com
• realmusicnow.com
• unlimiteddownloadcenter.com