Russian music download site www.allofmp3.com has said it will resume business after a Moscow court ruled that its operation was in accordance with Russian law.

No music is currently on sale, but a statement on the company's website says business will begin shortly, with enhanced payment procedures and a larger selection of music.

The statement is dated August 31st but does not make clear whether that is when the site will resume business.

Earlier this month the Cheryomushki court in Moscow ruled that Denis Kvasov, allofmp3's former head, was not guilty of intellectual property theft and had not violated Russian copyright laws.

Neither Mr Kvasov nor a representative from allofmp3's parent company, Media Services, could be reached for comment.

The US commerce department in 2006 called allofmp3 "the world's highest-volume online seller of pirated music" and made its closure a key point in bilateral trade negotiations surrounding Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation.

The site was closed in early July, ahead of a summit between the Russian and US presidents.

Allofmp3 sold digitally-encoded music at prices significantly lower than Apple's popular iTunes or the newly-legalised version of Napster.

The Russian site paid no music industry royalties, saying it was in compliance with Russian law by paying 15 per cent of its profit to a non-commercial partnership which handles licensing and payment for digital media.

"We pay royalties to those who sign up with us and ask for them. But none of the majors, among them I mean labels like EMI and Universal, want their money," said Oleg Nezus, of the Russian Organisation for Multimedia and Digital Systems.

"I've been sending them letters since November of 2005, stating there's a dividend. The labels don't respond."

The case against Mr Kvasov in the Moscow court was initiated by Russian state prosecutors.

Other civil cases against the site are pending in the US and Britain. These actions have been brought by industry lobby groups.