RIAA Complains To Congress About Satellite Radio

from the run-away!-the-future's-coming! dept

The RIAA was annoyed that new satellite radios would let users record shows off the air — the modern-day equivalent of kids recording songs from FM onto cassettes — and has gone crying to Congress, backing the HD Radio Content Protection Act of 2005. The act would essentially undermine the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, which permits consumers to record music in their homes for non-commercial use, and force makers of digital and satellite radios with recording functionality delete recordings after a certain amount of time. Being able to make tape recordings of FM broadcasts didn’t bring the recording industry to its knees, and this won’t either, and never mind that home recordings are protected by law. But that means little to the entertainment industry, which would love to do away with things like fair use. Anyway, if people are really determined to record stuff, there’s always the analog out — oh wait, that want to get rid of that, too.


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Comments on “RIAA Complains To Congress About Satellite Radio”

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15 Comments
alex says:

destroying themselves

Never in my life have I ever encounter an industry/business that was so determine to undermine and destroy themselves as the music industry have. They basically don’t want people to listen to their music, shutting down every avenue where they can get the widest audience to listen. Too bad because it’s working. I’ve pretty much stopped listening to the radio or going to the record(CD)stores and I don’t download any music.

Michael "TheZorch" Haney (profile) says:

Re: Crimes of the RIAA

The RIAA is guilty of a terrible crime, the crime of criminal inscensitity. What do I mean by that?

CNN.com reported on this sine tune ago, you might be able to find the original story in an archive on their site. Not long after the 911 attack in NYC congress began work on anti-terrorism legislation. The RIAA immediately ran to congress demanding that a provision be added that would declare “anyone” using P2P file sharing services to share music as “terrorists”. The smoke hadn’t even cleared over Ground Zero and the RIAA was trying to pull something like this! Well, their idea was quickly killed and the news story was immediately buried. Not to mention also all of the recording artists who came forward during the Napster trial who claimed that the RIAA wasn’t paying them for music they recorded years ago but was still being sold.

If there is such a thing as a truely “EVIL” organization in this world its the RIAA.

WirelessGuy says:

I just wish....

Maybe we should go to congress about all the crap music they put out every day, over market this said crap music, and influence our kids to like crap music….

The RIAA is a profitable organization that is just to prevent anyone from having the ability to do something they never thought of. Now they also are trying to help prevent people like Apple from making money on selling this stuff as well. And even there, I can make but so many copies of my music that I AM SUPPOSE TO OWN!!!!!

Shouldn’t they learn from the microsoft model and realize that instead of selling music, they should license the playing of the music to radio stations, retail outlets, etc…then every time someone played that song they make one cent.

But it is about the art anyway, not about the money.

MichelAngelo (user link) says:

Re: I just wish....

Crap music can promote violence, rape, drug and life in jail.. and this is pretty much the only music available these days. But if you download it or copy it (EVEN IF YOU OWN IT!), you become a criminal.

The RIAA reactions is the typical reaction of people with political pulls that would use influence over business agility.

Reinventing themselves and their business model would cost more (in brain cells also) than what it costs currently to enforce their new order.

OffBeatMammal (user link) says:

why don't they just stop releasing music ?

wouldn’t that make all their concerns go away ? they they can focus on going to individuals an re-licening their existing content according to new schemes until people throw that all away as well.

oh, and what is the fair use implication if you purchase music from overseas in a region with less insane restrictions and are unable to play it on a future US spec compliant (say) crippled iPod ?

I refuse to purchase either DRM crippled or copy protected CDs. I listen to live bands and buy from independants who actually care about their audience (helping their bottom line) rather than just their bottom line

Keegan Orange says:

lol

fasheezzz. this stuff again?

i agree with the formention, im so turned off by the music industry and the RIAA lately, to the point of complete disregard

i used to download back when i was cheap student. then i got a job, and started buying cd’s again. i had no problem with that. I dont spend a ton of money on music because my taste is specific, and the radio well…. lame… i’ve taken to rush hour NPR instead of the music.. and more recently’ cd’s arent on my list anymore.

i just hate feeling like, im some sort of enemy all the time because of the lawsuits and the pressure on congress. im suprised the government isn’t sick of all there babying either. Or this Pity Party stuff, who wants that? funnel some of that money back into the art maybe. untill people find a way to copy there tickets and geting into expensive live shows for free then don’t complain that your losing soooo much money.

the radio station paid to be able to play that song… its like trying to tax you for something twice, then i have to pay to hear it (in the case of XM radio) and then i have to pay if i want to record the station? wait what? it seems as ludicrous as getting taxed on food. then getting taxed again at the toillet

Anonymous Coward says:

It will all work itself out...

Unlike the approval rating of president Bush reaching 30% and not having the ability to remove him from office, the RIAA’s approval rating slowly reaching 30% will destroy their business completely.

They have 2 options:

1. Take a pay cut, give us what we want, and keep their customers.
2. Take a pay cut, continue being dicks, lose ALL their customers and become obsolete.

Think of all the businesses and jobs throughout the history of the world that have disappeared as a result of technological advances.

The RIAA is just 1 more, and they won’t be missed.

Ray Beckwith says:

RIAA Whines

Am I the only one who just doesn’t see the connection between plummeting record sales and box office receipts and the technology to record digital content at home for playback. I was under the impression that the reason the record industry and Hollywood were having trouble selling product was because the product was crap. They both have been, with few exceptions, peddling the same recycled garbage for the past 10 years and suppressing real creativity because most of the creative artists have learned that they can use the Internet and digital technology to get their product to the masses without signing their life away to the big studios.

All the legal action the media moguls are taking is a total waste of time and won’t solve the problem. It will only alienate most of their remaining customers and artists until they legislate themselves out of business.

Don’t they get it? We’ll always be able to make our own recordings or copies somehow but, if we like the product, most of us will pay for it and not share it indiscriminately because we realize that paying for it is how we let them know we like it and want more! C’mon…How can so many millionaires and billionaires be so greedy and stupid at the same time?/

Mike says:

A thought

We’d all like to see the RIAA disappear, and I would especially like to see ALL current “commercialized” music and artists vanish as well. But the thing you have to realize is there will always be a bunch of frigin’ sissy fan-boy/girl morons that are so blindy attached to their favourite full-o-shit artists that, sadly, this current crap generation of music will never go away. So instead of focusing on eliminating the organization that is creating all the lawsuits and problems, lets focus on doing away with all those who like and support our current commercialzed music “artists”, and then we can be free of this crap. Long live underground/independant music.

Bob says:

Future

The trend in the industry right now is the transition of music from a tangible or digital item, to a service. For most people this is a difficult concept to wrap their minds around, as they’ve always been used to owning their music on a physical medium, a CD or tape. No more.

Music of the future will be services that are subscribed to. Popular music will eventually be unavailable on physical media, and will be strictly controlled by the label. Pricing will be competitive and at the discretion of the label.

This is just one more small step in this general direction. Expect more to come.

Bob says:

Re: Re: Future

Possibly, but remember you’re dealing with a trade association here. The trade association can force its members to conduct their business in a certain way, per their charter. Since almost every major label is a member of the association, it will be very difficult to find a label willing to go against that policy.

I imagine there will be a few indie labels who will keep their music unlocked, but the sheer might of the RIAA and its member companies will eventually be too much for the smaller labels to resist. Plus, services will be marketed and hyped to no end as ‘a good thing’, with physical CD’s being labeled as ‘a bad thing’. Consumers will unwittingly fall for it.. it’s been proven if you repeat a lie long enough it eventually becomes truth (at least in the states anyway)

Labels will once again enjoy record profits.. how long do you think a rogue indie label still producing CDs will be able to resist the new model.. and the temptation of these new profits? They won’t for long.. count on them to follow the money.

Just a prediction.

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