RIAA sues XM over Inno

[Roger]

A new portable XM radio / receiver was released a few weeks ago by Pioneer called the Inno. It's the most advanced portable satellite radio player yet and can receive XM broadcasts while on the go. It's the smallest satellite radio receiver made to date and sure to be boon for XM fans. But the legal strong arm of the recording industry doesn't think Inno is so cool.

The RIAA is now suing XM over the device that was sold with the slogan "Hear it, click it, save it". The Pioneer Inno XM Radio lets users store up to 50 hours of music. Inno can save songs from XM or from your MP3 collection.

The RIAA just filed its lawsuit claiming the Inno, which lets users save and label songs violates federal copyright laws. The recording industry looks to cash in $150,000 for each song copied using the device. That's going to add for XM because they play more than 160,000 songs every month.

XM says the Inno legally records music for personal use, just like a VCR or a tape deck. Songs stored on the device can't be copied out and are only played back as long as the customer maintains a subscription.

XM has thus far avoided paying any distribution licenses that are normally required of Internet downloading services like Yahoo Music or iTunes. Sirius, a competing satellite radio provider pays the licensing fees because it has receivers that store music but these work differently than Inno. Sirius has a deal with an online music service to download songs played by satellite provider. But, RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol thinks XM should pay up anyway.

XM responds:

"These are legal devices that allow consumers to listen to and record radio just as the law has allowed for decades. The music labels are trying to stifle innovation, limit consumer choice and roll back consumers' rights to record content for their personal use. This is a negotiating tactic on the part of the labels to gain an advantage in our private business discussions. XM Radio is the largest single payer of digital music broadcast royalties and royalties paid by XM go to the music industry and benefit artists directly. XM will vigorously defend this lawsuit on behalf of consumers."

The Recording Industry Association of America is going after its own ally in their crusade against piracy. It's a testament to the state of the recording industry now that it eat its own young just to stay alive.

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