By TED BRIDIS

WASHINGTON (AP) - The recording industry sued XM Satellite Radio on Tuesday over its new
iPod-like device that can store up to 50 hours of music for a monthly fee, sending to the
courts a roiling dispute over how consumers can legally record songs using
next-generation radio services.

The federal lawsuit, filed in New York by the largest labels, accuses XM Satellite of
"massive wholesale infringement" because its $400
<http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060516/D8HL4O500.html#>handheld "Inno" device can
record hours of music and automatically parse recordings by song and artist. The device
is sold under the slogan, "Hear it, click it, save it."

The lawsuit seeks $150,000 in damages for every song copied by XM Satellite customers
using the devices, which went on sale weeks ago. The company said it plays 160,000
different songs every month.

XM Satellite has balked at the industry's efforts to collect expensive distribution
licenses similar to those required for Internet downloading services, such as Apple
Inc.'s iTunes. Its chief rival, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
(<http://money.excite.com/jsp/qt/short.jsp?symbol_search_text=SIRI>SIRI), has already
agreed to pay for such licenses to cover similar gadgets for its service.

XM Satellite's chairman, Gary Parsons, previously said requiring such licenses - in
addition to broader
<http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060516/D8HL4O500.html#>performance licenses the
company already pays - would represent "a new tax being imposed on our subscribers."

XM Satellite has compared its new device to a high-tech videocassette recorder, which
consumers can legally use to record programs for their personal use. It also noted that
songs stored on the device from its broadcasts can't be copied and can only be played for
as long as a customer subscribes to its service.

The head of the music industry's trade group said the XM Satellite device is legally
indistinguishable from iPods and other portable music players that work with downloading
services.

"Yahoo!, Rhapsody, iTunes and Napster all have licenses," said Mitch Bainwol, chief
executive for the Recording Industry Association of America. "There's no reason XM
shouldn't as well."

XM subscribers pay $12.95 per month to listen to more than 170 channels of entertainment,
sports and news programs, including 69 channels of different music genres without
commercials.

I see the riaa is laying off on the "little people", for how long is anyones guess, and now they're going after the bigger fish...After their big win over Bearshare they must be feeling pretty darn cocky by now.

Yeah, plus the recent news from Ray Beckerman is that they've now got the DOJ intervening on their behalf in that litigation down in Texas concerning a "making available" case they're pushing.
As if it isn't bad enough to have Congress-critters benefitting the RIAA with laws they like; so now the RIAA's got the Department of Injustice lending them a helping hand too!
(SNARL!)
[gnash teeth]

"Yahoo!, Rhapsody, iTunes and Napster are taking our orders," said Mitch Bainwol, chief
executive for the Recording Industry Association of America. "Any entity that refuses to bow down to us can kiss my ass - they're getting slapped with a lawsuit."

Does anybody know the e-mail addresses for those nippleheads at the RIAA, so that I can give them a piece of my mind?

RECORD LABELS BREAK COMPACTS WITH
CONSUMERS, CONGRESS AND COURTS

http://hrrc.org/news/PressRelease051706.html

I hope the courts begin to see through all of this. It's truly pathetic.

axxis

I think you just have to go to their web site (oh ick!) where they have a section for you to email their web master...they're too much like cowards to have an actual email....

If the RIAA wins this one, it may well only be a matter of time before it becomes illegal to tape TV programs or record music from terrestrial radio stations. This is really no different, especially when you consider that tunes which are recorded on the Inno cannot easily be copied to other devices. A win for the RIAA sends the Betamax ruling to the dustbin.

Music Industry Takes on XM Satellite Radio
May 17, 2006
Thomas Mennecke


In a move long anticipated, the music industry represented by the RIAA has finally moved against XM Satellite Radio. Represented by law firm Jenner & Block LLP, no less than 10 big name record companies filed a federal complaint in New York Federal Court’s southern district. The plaintiffs in this lawsuit are Atlantic Recording Corporation, BMG Music, Capitol Records, Inc., Elektra Entertainment Group Inc., Interscope Records, Motown Record Company, L.P., Sony BMG Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Inc., Virgin Records America, Inc., and Warner Bros. Records, Inc.

The lawsuit stems from ongoing negotiations between the RIAA and satellite radio providers XM and Sirius. Of primary concern for the music industry has been the potential ability of customers to digitally record high quality music and rearrange music without paying the necessary royalties. Because XM and Sirius categorize music genres and subgenres, which makes finding the music an individual want simple, the RIAA felt the potential existed to turn such satellite providers into iTunes-like services.

That was back in 2005 and much has changed since then, particularly the Pioneer Inno. Introduced earlier this month, Pioneer and XM paired up to jointly release the device. The Inno is a revolutionary receiver heralded by XM fans as a multifaceted device also capable of playing MP3 and WMA files. In addition, it's capable of storing up to 50 hours of XM programming and has impressive time shifting ability. For example, let’s say you want to catch the 6 hour Led Zeppelin block scheduled on the classic rock station next Wednesday. Just program your Inno to record the time and date for the scheduled program and you’ll have an entire Led Zeppelin collection. Then let’s say you want Eric Clapton’s greatest hits, which is scheduled two days later. However being more of a Clapton fan, you place his music before Zeppelins.

Sounds great; however the music industry feels such devices gives users "permanent ownership of copyrighted material without paying for it." Additionally, “time-shifting” out of the originally designated order is also of serious concern and considered copyright infringement by the music industry. Mitch Bainwol, CEO of the RIAA, has addressed these issues, questioning why anyone would pay for iTunes (or any music for that matter) when all one needs to do is copy and rearrange music via XM’s Inno (or similar device.) These sentiments were felt throughout last year, and considering the materialization of the current lawsuit, little progress has been made since.

Satellite providers, particularly XM, has been reluctant to quickly give into the demands of the music industry, as the demands of the consumer are a significant consideration. XM appears to have sided with their customers, which eventually led to yesterday’s filing. According to Reuters, the music industry is demanding $150,000 for every song recorded. Although thousands of Innos have been sold, this does not appear to have deterred XM.

In a statement made to the Los Angeles Times, XM stated “it would fight the suit” and the device "allow consumers to listen to and record radio just as the law has allowed for decades." In addition, XM stated the music industry was simply looking for leverage to break through its extensive negotiations.

"[This is] a negotiating tactic on the part of the industry to gain an advantage in our private business discussions."

The case is similar to the music industry’s push to regulate the ability of consumers to record music on high definition radio broadcasts. Looking to install a “broadcast flag” that would prevent high definition recordings or rearrange music, the RIAA has been pushing Congress to enact legislation preventing such measures. The RIAA is not looking to prevent copying of broadcast music; however it doesn’t want consumers to have the ability to “disaggregate” or rearrange individual songs or blocks to suit their individual needs.

“The recording industry is not seeking to (1) stop or delay the rollout of HD Radio or other platforms; (2) prevent consumers from listening to radio as they do today; (3) prevent time-shifting of radio programming; or (4) prevent a consumer from hitting a record button when a song comes on that they like.”

From the proliferation of file-sharing, P2P, and iTunes, its evident there is an exploding demand to record and arrange music in a fashion the consumer sees fit. This will eventually occur on satellite radio free of litigation, however who will control this avenue will be determined soon enough.

"Does anybody know the e-mail addresses for those nippleheads at the RIAA, so that I can give them a piece of my mind?"


There it is:


hrosen@riaa.com, sdonofrio@riaa.com, fcreighton@riaa.com,
jbetts@riaa.com, sfabrizio@riaa.com, jflatow@riaa.com,
dincorvaia@riaa.com, jbendall@riaa.com, clawhorn@riaa.com,
jhenkel@riaa.com, lpelliccia@riaa.com, jberman@riaa.com,
csherman@riaa.com, nashby@riaa.com, lbocchi@riaa.com,
pbrooks@riaa.com, jegas@riaa.com, jfleming@riaa.com,
jganoe@riaa.com, utc@ftc.org, hkim@riaa.com, smarks@riaa.com,
hmccaffrey@riaa.com, jmilbauer@riaa.com, rmorgan@riaa.com,
moppenheim@riaa.com, mpetersen@riaa.com, brobinson@riaa.com,
lsalet@riaa.com, msimcik@riaa.com, tsites@riaa.com, dstebbings@riaa.com,
btenor@riaa.com, nturkewitz@riaa.com, dvaldez@riaa.com, awalsh@riaa.com,
fwalters@riaa.com, jwhitehead@riaa.com, wyascur@riaa.com

Use all the paper and ink off their fax machine:

202 775-7233

Fill their mail box with nasty stuffs:

Recording Industry Association Of America
1330 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 300
Washington DC 20036

The federal governement is not doing his job to protect the public our law and institutions.

And these pigs and their lakeys are laughing up to the bank. But if I was them I will start running now
because most of them have now a room reserved in hell.

And they think that they can continue
to play their crappy game of law abuse and governement corruption.

They are fools!

from digg:

Following the news of the RIAA suing XM for daring to come up with a device that lets people record their satellite radio offerings, it seems worth reminding the RIAA how they swore up, down, left and right that they would never, ever file such a lawsuit. Ray Beckerman points to a press release quoting the head of the Consumer Electronics Association and the Home Recording Rights Coalition, Gary Shapiro, reminding the industry of their past comments. If you remember, during the battles concerning new laws (such as the INDUCE Act) or lawsuits like the Supreme Court's Grokster case, whenever anyone would point out that these laws would have effectively stopped things like the VCR or the iPod, the entertainment industry would say that was ridiculous. They would never file lawsuits to stop devices that allowed "private, noncommercial consumer conduct." Shapiro points out that: "The lawyer that signed the complaint against XM is the same lawyer who told the Supreme Court that ripping a CD to a PC and then to a handheld device (without paying any royalty) is lawful. He represents the same industry that, in seeking 'inducement' legislation, promised that it would never be applied against devices such as a TiVo personal video recorder." And people wonder why no one trusts the entertainment industry these days?

If the lawyers for XM cannot draw the correlation between the radio and tape players (FAIR USE) and the XM service and a digital recorder (FAIR USE), they need to have their license to practice law revoked. A 4th grader could read the last post and see the similiarities... Whatever the case, I don't own either, and have no intentions to pay to listen to RIAA music...

Message: I have been trying to find a way to contact the people at the riaa electronically. I just wanted to share my oinion with them. I can undestand why certain people in the recording industry would want to protect their rights, their work, im most cases is their livelihood, however it is ridiculous how far they are taking it. I have read that they are no in the process of sueing xm sattelite radio because people can record a limited number of songs. What I dont get is that people have always been able to record songs. Whether using a record, cassete, cd, floppy, or other form of memory device. Television has DVR's that can record entire movies but i hear no one trying to sue the cable companies. I believe that the RIAA has gone to far. P2P networking wa their big victory and the only thing that made complete since, considering the mass amount of media available for download. I dont know. I just saw this current issue and felt i needed to vent or contact someone. thank you, whoever may have read this, for takeing your time out of the day to read this. i truly do appreicate it. Thank you again.

-Miles

FROM THE LEFSETZ LETTER:

"I wasn't previously a believer, but I'm coming around to the viewpoint
that Mel Karmazin is a BRILLIANT businessman.

Sirius launched after XM. Reception of its signal is problematic. The
sound, to my ears, is clearly inferior to XM's. Yet not only has
Sirius stolen XM's thunder, a betting man would say that it's going to
continue to steal market share from XM and quite possibly overtake the
Washington, D.C. giant.

Oh, Hugh Panero, XM's chief, was getting all the accolades in the past.
For his brilliant strategy. Which was to partner with automobile
companies. Installing XM-ready radios in a plethora of new cars and
converting purchasers of these machines into fans. It's really that simple.
The conversion rate is astronomical. Satellite radio is like heroin.
Given a free taste for a few months, people can't RESIST continued
payment, and enjoyment.

Sirius fucked up in this regard. Its auto partnerships were not as
strong.

But those days are through. Since Mel has taken over, Sirius has
strengthened its auto relationships to the point where they're essentially
equal to those of XM. And, rather than the dying GM, Sirius is
partnered with brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Watch MTV. Not everybody
may be able to AFFORD one of these German cars, but they ASPIRE to them
and know everything about them.

But Mel really started to shine in the area of programming.

Let's be clear. Sirius was behind the 8 Ball. Without the Howard
Stern deal, done before Mel joined the company, Sirius would have probably
gone out of business. But, after that lifesaving move, after Mel got
control of Sirius, he focused on PROGRAMMING! He added SPICE to a dead
service. Now someone who listens to Sirius knows that the music
playlists are tighter than a drumhead. But this ultimately makes NO
difference. Because it's almost impossible to A/B the two services. You buy
one and stick with it. People buy Sirius for the sizzle, and STAY
THERE!

XM's music was LIGHT YEARS better than Sirius'. This was its main
advantage. So what does Panero do? He fucks it up. Coming from the cable
industry, where it's all about DISTRIBUTION rather than content (that
was Hugh's end, the pipe, not the programs), Hugh took the programming
reins from Lee Abrams and gave them to John Zellner and other Infinity
hacks. Yes, hacks. These are the same people who fucked up terrestrial
radio! And Zellner tightened playlists. Blinking, trying to be more
like Sirius, without the PERSONALITIES, and ultimately more like
terrestrial, which is a DEATH KNELL! The ineptitude of Mr. Panero here is
staggering. Sure, John Malone made a lot of money, and the fact you might
not know who he is proves the point, but although rich today, he's been
marginalized. Ultimately, satellite radio is about distribution AND
content and Mr. Panero has steered his ship towards the rocks.

Believing that Sirius was overpaying for talent, not seeing the wisdom
of Mr. Karmazin's strategy, that you sell the sizzle, not the steak,
Mr. Panero let Sirius get ALL the talent. And take NASCAR from XM too.
Then, freaking out that they didn't have Martha Stewart, never mind
Jimmy Buffett, Eminem, Little Steven, et al, Mr. Panero OVERPAYS for Oprah
Winfrey who will BARELY BE ON THE SERVICE! How boneheaded is THAT?

Then it comes down to the SR50. Sirius' device that records.

Unlike XM, Sirius admitted right from the start that the SR50 is not a
portable radio. You don't carry it around like a transistor and
listen. Rather, you record music while it's in its dock and then carry it
around like an iPod. The reason this is important is that XM's
originating product, the XM2Go, DIDN'T WORK! Oh, certain features work. But I
know someone who purchased one to listen to baseball. Only one
problem, you CAN'T! Not if you move the unit. You CONSTANTLY lose reception.
To the point where he canceled his subscription.

XM just launched a product to compete with the SR50. The Pioneer Inno
XM2Go. It records too. But unlike the SR50, XM maintains the Pioneer
unit is portable.

Read Walter Mossberg in today's "Wall Street Journal"
(http://ptech.wsj.com/solution.html). Bottom line, the Inno doesn't
work. It's just that simple. (And if you don't know Mr. Mossberg's power
in the tech world, never mind on WALL STREET, please don't make any
tech decisions at your company.) As Mr. Mossberg says at the end of his
review, "...its spotty reception, confusing software and monthly fee
make the Inno a no-go, except for hard-core XM fans."

The Inno was supposed to be a BREAKTHROUGH! Not only allowing you to
record and replay individual songs like the SR50, but giving you the
ability to purchase said songs from Napster. Didn't you see the endless
announcements in the press?

Who were those announcements FOR? Hopefully not Wall Street. Any
investor knows that Napster is a turkey of a stock. One whose carcass will
probably get so lean it can't even be served as a meal. The PUBLIC?
As the cliche goes, they've been avoiding Napster in droves. Not only
does it work in a less than stellar fashion, as Mr. Mossberg states, it
DOESN'T GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT! OWNERSHIP!

So, you've got a device that doesn't work giving almost nobody what
they want. GREAT business decision.

But it gets worse. The RIAA is pissed. They don't like this
individual song/slice and dice recording/playback ability. To the point where
they just SUED XM. Now THAT'S great publicity, THAT'S what you want. I
mean the RIAA is a misguided lobby about as trustworthy as the
organization Jack Abramoff ran which is pursuing legal strategies to a
practical problem as its member record companies drive headlong towards
extinction. But why the tussle? Why is XM making this stand? Why all the
bad publicity, financial AND consumer, when almost NOBODY WANTS THE
PRODUCT!!!

Talk about misguided. Who the fuck is RUNNING the XM ship?

This is where Mel Karmazin's infinite wisdom comes in. He SETTLED with
the major labels re the SR50. Not because he thinks they're right, and
under the present law it appears that the SR50 and XM's Inno are
completely legal, but because he knows the SR50 has a LIMITED MARKET! Why
battle on an irrelevant front? Shit, Mel can see the BIG PICTURE! Not
only does HE avoid bad publicity, Sirius shines when XM gets negative
press. FURTHERMORE, Mel didn't settle re FUTURE products. If they can
ever get the technology on these devices to the point where they work
and they're actually usable and desirable to the average customer. Not
that that ever will be. Because people don't want their music locked to
one device. And they don't want to rent. Doesn't the iTunes/Napster
movie PROVE THIS?

Sirius has inferior hardware. On SO many levels Sirius is inferior.
But XM keeps bungling the ball. Giving its smaller competitor openings,
which Mel has driven Sirius right through.

Rumor has it that Lee Abrams is regaining his power at XM. One can
only hope, DREAM, that this is true. Not only for business reasons, but
for MUSIC reasons. For the first half-decade, XM was early FM on
steroids. So good that you couldn't stop talking about it. With such deep
playlists, compiled by professionals, nuking any possibility of
competition by Net radio and other amateur formats. You'd sit in your garage
continuing to listen, just wanting to hear what they played next. The
fact that Mr. Panero squandered this advantage is almost unfathomable.

Mel is old school. He's about advertising. He's about personalities.
But really, it's a new world out there. It's about the ultimate
content, not the branding. Panero should steer the ship away from the rocks.
Stop chasing Sirius. And realize that HE'S got the killer product.
Yes, XM should advertise/hype its MUSIC CHANNELS! THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE
WANT!

It's a word of mouth world. And that word is on steroids, being
Net-enabled. Make something good, and everybody knows very quickly. Show
people that MUSIC lives on XM, and people will flock to the service.
Maybe slowly. But you're building something, you've got to STAND for
something. And now XM stands for almost nothing. Baseball and..? It's so
simple. Talk radio made inroads on terrestrial because music was so
BAD! Cede talk to terrestrial. Don't even try to compete with Howard
Stern. Focus on MUSIC, which is the broadest swath, which is what most
people want."

MORE FROM THE INBOX ABOUT XM:

"Message: The recent lawsuit against XM Radio by the RIAA has prompted myself and others to join in a boycott of RIAA. The following is a copy of my post on an XM related message board:

Utilizing various message boards relating to the RADIO industry, both FM and XM, I, and others have called for a full boycott of products and merchandise from RIAA associated companies. We feel that your lawsuit against XM is warrantless and leads to an overall perception of the music recording industry as being greedy and manipulative.

You don't get it. The new devices from XM RADIO are clearly legal. Consumers have enjoyed the right to tape off the air for their personal use for decades, from reel-to-reel and the cassette to the VCR and TiVo.

The new radios complement download services, they don't replace them. If you want a copy of a song to transfer to other players or burn onto CDs, XM makes it easy for consumers to buy them through XM + Napster.

Satellite radio subscribers like us are law-abiding music consumers; a portion of our subscriber fee pays royalties directly to artists. Instead of going after pirates who don't pay a cent, the record labels are attacking the radios used for the enjoyment of music by consumers like us. It's misguided and wrong.

The boycott will last until RIAA has withdrawn the suit or lost it's case in court."

--Annonymous

Funny, this little device looks a lot like a TiVo to me... I wonder is the MPAA has sued the cable companies because they customers were using a DVR...

The RIAA really can't stand the ease of use the digital word has brought to us. If it's easier than before, or better than before, then it obviously should belong to them...

....or, as a last resort, they'll be bent on stymying it some kind of way.