Things You Never Knew...

If you've ever been to China and gone shopping, you might have noticed that CDs over there are dirt cheap. I forget the price exactly, but they're a fraction of the price we pay here, or even in the States. Mind you, these are the original versions of CDs, licensed by EMI and Sony and Universal China, or what have you. Without going too much into economics, the price point of CDs and other luxury goods has to do with the standard of living, and the absolute amount of disposal income a regular person has to spend on luxuries.

First question - would you buy such CDs, when presented with an opportunity? Their very existence does not violate any IP laws. Their only "problem" - if you can even call it that - is that they have Chinese on the cover art and sleeves. Which to me doesn't really pose a problem, since I rip my CDs onto mp3 and never ever see the actual CD again. Interestingly enough, some retailers in Singapore parallel import these CDs for the local market - you might have seen them in some CD shops. Parallel importing is a different story, however - that might be in violation of trade laws, what have you.

But I think most people would agree with me that buying a CD from somewhere else at dirt cheap price isn't in violation of any IP laws. So here's the kicker:

What if you bought mp3s from an online site located in a different country at a fantastically cheap price?

As you might (or might not) know, iTunes charges US$9.99 for an album. That's reasonable, I guess, though you get DRM-ed music that's only playable in iPods. Some people might argue it's a little pricey, but whatever. But in the past couple of years iTunes copycats have been popping up in countries where the long arm of the RIAA cannot reacch - in this case Russia and China - where full albums can come at the low, low price of a buck. Or somewhere around there.

The RIAA has cried long and loud about these sites, who claim that they sell licensed music. While some sites are rather dubious, it is established that there is a provision in Russian copyright law that allow mp3 sites to sell their entire catalogue, and they do so at local (Russian) prices. Which translates into el cheapo for the rest of the world. I haven't visited any Chinese ones, for obvious reasons.

Assuming that they are selling legal mp3s, is there anything wrong in patronizing their site instead of iTunes or whatever? The RIAA has been twsting arms and all to get them shut down, and it won a small battle when Visa agreed to stop accepting credit card payments to a very popular Russian mp3 site. But try as I might, I cannot distinguish between my earlier example of buying CDs on the cheap from somewhere else while on holiday, and buying mp3s on the cheap from another jurisdiction.

So, IP lawyers. Sharpen your pencils! Why can't I buy mp3s from wherever I choose?