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RIAA's Next Target: Satellite Radio

News You Could Do Without

from the you're-never-happy-are-you dept

Fri, Oct 7th 2005 10:29am — Carlo Longino
The RIAA's lawyers must be getting bored going after file-sharers, as they're reportedly eyeing satellite radio companies as their next legal target. The RIAA is upset about new radios that let users record programs, fearful that it will keep people from buying downloads. XM and the RIAA previously got upset when people were recording programming on their computers, but the devices the RIAA is worried about this time typically don't record at the same level of quality, and some are even designed to drive paid downloads from XM partners. When I was a little kid, I'd make tapes of songs I recorded from the radio, something that's protected as fair use, and it's hard to see how this is much different -- though, of course, the entertainment industry would rather just scrap the idea of fair use altogether. What seems likely here is that this is just posturing on the part of the RIAA, leading up to negotiations over a new rights contract with satellite radio providers. The current deal, which expires next year, cost them $80 million, but the RIAA wants a staggering $1 billion for the next five-year deal, according to an analyst.
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13 Comments

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  • identicon
    jake, 7 Oct 2005 @ 12:09pm

    riaa and their stupidity

    do they reaaly care what their customers think. there greed knows no bounds. first they go after file sharing(individual customers). now there looking at going after the radio people. this could all blow up in there face. I hope it does too.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      slappi, 7 Oct 2005 @ 12:23pm

      Re: riaa and their stupidity

      It is obvious these folks are about the most greedy souls that ever walked the earth. Who ever heard of a company that sues it's customers and then they get angry because we have stopped buying their over priced CDs. Another good PR move for the RIAA.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 7 Oct 2005 @ 1:19pm

        Re: riaa and their stupidity

        Yep, they're digging their own grave and I must say I have not been so entertained in years!

        Entertainment Industry INDEED!

        Who needs to watch movies and listen to music? Just get online and read all the news stories about how the RIAA and MPAA are going down and doing it to themselves.

        That's more entertaining that ANYTHING that's been released by them in years! And it's FREE!

        Nothing pleases me more than to see a huge corrupt corporation go down because they forget who really has the power and who the most important aspect of their business is:

        THE CUSTOMER.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Aleks Y., 7 Oct 2005 @ 1:33pm

    Aren't they suppose to make money?

    Sattellite radio was suppose to break even eventually. But paying 1 billion dollars to RIAA will just take them longer to do that. And by that time they might even go bankrupt. To avoid bankruptcy they most likely to put in more commercials on the air. Thus, doing away with 'commercial free' radio just to survive.

    There, goes your SIRI million dollar plan!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mousky, 7 Oct 2005 @ 1:38pm

    Suing because you are not making enough profit

    Ask yourself this: when was the last time a major music label (or entertainment corporation) went bankrupt? Even with all the supposed illegal file sharing, not a single major record company has filed for bankruptcy protection. Who would have imagined that not making enough profit was grounds for waging a war against your customers and distributors? The entertainment industry truly believes that it is entitled to some made up minimum rate of return on its "investment" in artists.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Az, 7 Oct 2005 @ 2:41pm

      Re: Suing because you are not making enough profit

      I havent heard of one going bankrupt! Those 5 bucks movies(during the day 8? at night) must mean we are getting really ripped off. Have you seen how rich the celebrities are? Some having 40million or more in the accounts! We the average person cant make that in a lifetime at a 15 dollar a hour job.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        A. Guy, 7 Oct 2005 @ 4:45pm

        Re: Suing because you are not making enough profit

        I tell ya, these RIAA clowns are going to be in for a rude awakening when all these tactics they're using blow up in their faces.....

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Mousky, 7 Oct 2005 @ 5:29pm

          Re: Suing because you are not making enough profit

          I'm not a supporter of what the music industry is doing, but I don't think there will be a rude awakening. Sales of digital music is increasing (mostly because of ringtones), which means that demand is growing and that demand is starting to be satisfied. The global music industry just had it's best year in five years in terms of sales in dollars. Besides, since most record companies are divisions of much larger entertainment conglomerates, any decrease in music sales has been made up by a similar increase in the sales of DVDs. So far the lawsuits are not really hurting their sales. As much as people want to be pissed off about them, people are still buying music.

          [ link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Old Fart, 8 Oct 2005 @ 12:01am

            Pepper Pots

            The old farts in the music industry do have a rational for going after digital recordings instead of analogue recordings. That is, in theory, digital recordings can be duplicated infinatly witout degridation in quality. Analogue recordings can only be duplicated up to three generations before they fade, and the copy that you have in your hands is always the second generation. Therefore, you can't as easily make a copy of your cassette, give it to your friend, and your friend makes a copy for another friend without an end to the process as each copy has compromised quality. That is the crux of the recording companies argument, and they spend a lot of time wollowing in that fear ("Well I never!"), which creates panic, thus compromising their abilty to analize the situation and come up with a business model that is both profitable and meets market demand.

            [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Oct 2005 @ 1:55pm

    Just one question....

    What are these "tapes" you speak of?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    James, 7 Oct 2005 @ 1:58pm

    protest

    the whole media industry is going insane. someone should set up a month to boycott any media purchasing.
    isn't a player with xm radio and recording capablity the same as a FM radio with a tape deck?
    they need to stop blaming users for thier inability to make money. Just face the fact that no one wants to spend 15 bucks on a crappy album when I can buy the only good track for a buck off iTunes.
    Plus the fact that the cost of living has gone and up wages have not could have something to do with it... people have less money to put towards an album that they'll only listen to for a month or so. LOL maybe they should sue the oil companies for charging $3 bucks a gallon for gas. There's where my money goes right now. That extra $20 bucks I spend to fill up my tank now could go to buying an album at Tower Records.
    -End Rant.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    rabidearz, 8 Oct 2005 @ 12:11am

    Who doesn't dislike the RIAA?

    I'm getting so sick of hearing about their conquests of greed that the idea of completely refusing to pay for anything they profit from makes me salivate with glee. This doesn't mean I'll steal, this means I'm giving them the treatment they diserve(as in f*** off, I'll drop the money I'd otherwise give to you in some local unsigned performers dish). They don't deserve anyones money and since there aren't any/(many?) artists willing to tell them to back off, they don't deserve my attention or adoration of their music.


    I know this article pertains specifically to sat. rad. but their consistent attempts to make us pay pretentiously high prices make me sick.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    SuperJudge, 9 Oct 2005 @ 9:42am

    The RIAA

    Burn!!!1

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


China Decrees Only Happy, Socially Beneficial Text Messages Are Allowed As Well
RIM's Patent Appeal Denied, But Does It Matter?
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