Thursday, May 18, 2006

RIAA Goes after Recording from the Radio Again...So What if it's Satellite Radio?

Scanning over the rss feeds from Engadget, I read that the record labels were suing XM Radio over the Inno, a really cool-sounding device which not only plays XM radio content, MP3, and WMA files, but also allows a subscriber to record satellite radio content for later playback. It didn't occur to me until I read another take on jkOntheRun that the lawsuit-crazy Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) were once again using their bullying, self-serving and customer-alienating tactics, except this time, the chosen victim isn't elderly or a preteen. I think we all know that the RIAA had never been happy with being told that home recording of radio broadcasts was perfectly legal* (and someone please explain to me that part that seems to say actions may not be bought against makers of recording devices), but they were told, and radio is clearly radio, even when prefaced by the word "Satellite," so if the RIAA gains anything other than ridicule and bad PR from this latest display of stupidity and avarice, I'm sure I will not be alone in remaining sorely disappointed.

*Thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation for the link

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