Warner and Sony Plunge into Pirate Markets

In the “If you can’t shut ‘em down, join ‘em” department, Warner and Sony just formed a digital music site in Moscow.

Backed by metals billionaire Len Blavatnik, the joint venture, called Digital Access, will offer “full-track audio downloads, ring tones, ring-back tones, video clips and full color images” in Russia and the former Soviet Union, according to Bloomberg. The official launch is planned for sometime in the fall.

According to the report, the U.S. government in April named China and Russia as the biggest violators of American copyrights and patents for the second year in a row, singling out Russia-based music-sharing Web site Allofmp3.com and the Silk Market in Beijing as being centers of piracy.

Warner, Sony, Billionaire Blavatnik Form Russian Music Venture [Bloomberg]

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