The record industry today attacked a decision by a Russian court to clear a music website boss of copyright infringement in a test case for the country's fight against piracy.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said it was "extremely disappointed" that the court had failed to convict Denis Kvasov, who ran the download site allofmp3.com, claiming that the site was "in clear violation of Russia's law."

Mr Kvasov, a former director of Media Services, the company which ran allofmp3.com, was being tried for intellectual property infringement after pressure record labels put pressure on Russian prosecutors to bring the case.

The site, which had reportedly become the second most popular place for UK residents to pay for music downloads - after iTunes - before it was shut down in July, had been singled out by the US as a barrier to Russia joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

"The prosecution did not succeed in presenting persuasive evidence of his involvement in infringing copyright law," Yekaterina Sharapova, presiding judge in the Cheremushkin District Court, in Moscow, said in her verdict.

Ms Sharapova said, however, that she wanted to "draw attention to the sloppy job done by prosecutors in collecting and analysing the facts," adding that lawyers had to be "careful in collecting evidence in connection with intellectual rights violations."

The IFPI reiterated its view that the allofmp3.com was in breach of the law, and said it hoped the prosecutor would appeal the ruling and that the decision would be reversed.

"This ruling in no way affects the illegality of allofmp3.com and similar services that reproduce and make available music without the consent of the artists and record producers that created it," Jo Oliver, vice president for litiagation and regulatory affairs at the IFPI, said.

Two other cases against current directors of Media Services which also relate to allofmp3.com are pending.

EMI, Warner Music and Universal had been seeking 15 million rubles (£293,000) in damages from Media Services, according to the IFPI. All three labels declined to comment today.

Mr Kvasov's lawyer had argued that a legal loophole which made it possible for websites to make songs available without the rights holders' consent was only closed in September 2006, which meant that for the period Mr Kvasoc was a director, the site's operation was legal.

IFPI lawyers said, however, that during the period in question - between September 2003 and December 2005 - it had been illegal to reproduce music without such consent, meaning that the site had been infringing copyright in any case.

Media Services had also said that it had paid royalties to the labels through the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS), a collecting society, but the labels claim that ROMS has not been recognised since it was expelled from the International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies in October, 2004.

Today, mp3sparks.com, a site similar to allofmp3.com, was offering the entire Amy Winehouse album Back to Black for $1.56, and Lily Allen's Alright Still for $1.64.

The Russian Anti-piracy Organisation said that the decision set "a very bad precedent", and demonstrated the need to strengthen the country's intellectual property laws.

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