Record Industry suing Satellite Radio?
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
Apparently no longer content going after 13-year old file swappers, rumors are circulating that the recording industry may next set its sights on satellite radio. It seems that recent new satellite receivers from both XM and Sirius have built-in recording capabilities, similar to Tivo’s video recorders for television. These devices allow the user to pause, rewind, and record on-air broadcasts for later playback.
The record industry is looking into whether these features represent a copyright violation. According to Barton Crockett, an analyst for JP Morgan: “Based on recent talks with execs at record labels and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), we see potential spats ahead. RIAA may file a lawsuit this fall to stop a new feature for upcoming wearable satellite radios.”
“RIAA may file a lawsuit this fall to stop a new feature…” Typical of the RIAA, to try to stop progress intead of adopting it. That’s why people don’t care what they represent. They don’t represent the artists, but only their greedy pockets.
It is remarkable how much control the RIAA is trying to assert lately. I’m sure they’d argue that it’s about the quality of the broadcast, but I don’t see how that flies. Back before CDs were really big, I could record songs off the radio onto cassette tapes, and if it was a strong signal, I’d get a recording that was hard to tell the difference between it and a store bought version on most common stereos. Now, the quality of most stereos have improved vastly, and the quality of the broadcasts have improved vastly (at least where something like satellite radio is concerned). So, I don’t see that there’s any great difference between the current situation and how things stood with stereos with built in tape decks twenty years ago.
I certainly hope that they fall flat on their faces if they try to implement this level of dictatorial control…
Let’s put it this way.
They just want more money.
And money is never enough to them.
Chao Chee Bye.
Gee, an organization that represents huge corporations… All they’re concerned about is helping them make more money? Imagine that! This is about consumer rights vs. those of major corporations. To argue about whether these companies “care” or are just greedy is pointless… it’s a foregone conclusion that they are only interested in the bottom line.
Isn’t the RIAA a monopoly yet? ‘Cause I wanna sue em!!
This is an obvious case of time shifting that the Supreme Court said was allowed under fair use decades ago.
I guess that the RIAA and the Music Industry (read money hungry suits, not the artists) is tired of going after little kid’s lunch money, and they figure that XM and Sirius have deeper pockets.
Um, heh, doesn’t every cassete/radio combo in the world have a way to record the live feed? Where was the RIAA when THOSE came out? And anyway, as far as I know, XM radio still isn’t 44.1 CD quality is it? So it’s not like duping a CD.
No, the RIAA is not a monopoly. It’s a cartel. An organization that exists for the purpos of allowing member corporations to present a united front to the rest of the world.
And yes, antitrust legislation doesn’t allow cartel’s to abuse their power, just like monopolies.
And all these laws don’t mean a thing if nobody in government is interested in enforcing them.