Satellite Radio company addresses music industry concerns

6/27/2006 8:33:11 AM, by Ryan Paul

In an open letter to musicians published last week, XM Radio affirms its respect for artists and responds to criticism from the recording industry. Last month, several recording companies sued XM Radio for producing a satellite radio receiver with recording functionality, contradicting the RIAA's previously stated position regarding satellite radio recording devices.

RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol contends that XM's new recording device threatens legitimate music downloading services by enabling "broadcast programs to be automatically captured and then disaggregated, song by song, into a massive library of music." In the open letter, XM Executive Vice President Eric Logan argues that the Inno and Helix satellite radio recorders are merely time-shifting devices like Tivo rather than piracy tools. Logan points out that the new devices do not enable users to duplicate, redistribute, or permanently preserve downloaded content, and that the service itself doesn't enable users to select which songs are played.



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