Quoting from a site that claims to "represent the recording industry worldwide" doesn't give me any real confidence in it's legitimacy. Propaganda is propaganda and it comes from both sides. IF one considers the proprietors of Allofmp3.com to be slime balls, the record industry is just as bad, or worse.
Either way, there is no real catch. If the site were as illegal as that article would lead one to believe, it would have been shut down long ago. Maybe it's not legit in Russia as the article claims, or maybe it is, but there have been lawsuits and threats from the Russian Govt before and the site is still around.
Apparently the site mentioned above needs to update their propaganda page. Here is nice article at
EndGadgte that says, in effect, AllofMp3.com can not be criminally prosecuted under existing Russian law, but could be subject to civil suits.
Here is another, somewhat lengthy, article from
digital music news about AllofMP3.com and it's popularity.
The real issue with closing them down seems to be
"Specifically, Russian anti-piracy law is mainly focused on physical CD- and DVD-based counterfeiting, and does not firmly address digital formats." In other words, it is a loophole in the Russian law.
Legal issues’ aside, using the service is up to each individual to decide on their own. I've never had any problems and feel no guilt for using the service on occasion.
That being said, I have downloaded significantly more content and spent much more money on iTunes and E-Music.com than at AllofMP3.com.