CDT Challenges 'Legal' Music Download Sites

The Center for Democracy and Technology this week asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate two Web sites--Mp3DownloadCity.com and MyMusicInc.com--that promote themselves as offering "legal" movie and song downloads.

The CDT, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group that promotes civil liberties online, claims the Web sites mislead consumers, because they instruct people to download peer-to-peer software, rather than offering licensed downloadable content. Such software can enable users to download content in a way that violates copyright laws.

"The development of a viable marketplace in online content will be substantially harmed if users can't distinguish legal services from unlicensed, illicit downloading," states the complaint. The CDT is asking the FTC to investigate the Web sites and prohibit them from continuing the "use of deceptive advertising."

Both Web sites named in the complaint charge consumers a fee of $24.95 for what turned out to be nothing more than "step-by-step instructions on how to download popular music and videos," said Alan Davidson, associate director at the CDT.

Mp3DownloadCity.com boasts on its home page that it's "100% legal," while MyMusicInc.com posts the word "legal" with a link to a Web page stating: "You can be assured that file-sharing is legal, MP3s are legal, and your membership to MyMusicInc.com is legal."

The CDT alleges that consumers aren't shown disclaimers about copyright law until after they've either subscribed to the service or have followed a trail of links.

In its complaint, the CDT stated that it found the Web sites by typing terms such as "legal mp3" and "legal downloading" into search engines. The Web sites mentioned in the complaint are two of "dozens" of similar sites, said Davidson, adding that the group might later ask the FTC to investigate other sites.

Earlier this year, the CDT weighed in on behalf of peer-to-peer companies with a friend of the court brief in the MGM vs. Grokster case, scheduled for argument in the U.S. Supreme Court on March 29. In that case, the CDT and a coalition of other groups argue that technology companies shouldn't be liable when consumers use the product to violate copyright laws, unless those companies actively encouarge infringement.

OnlineMediaDaily efforts to contact people at both Web sites were unsuccessful.

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