The RIAA suing again? It's not a surprise, for sure, but this time they are going after a company, not a person, and it's not even for pirating mp3s. It's for just making that possible. Pioneer's Inno is capable of recording dozens of hours of XM Satellite Radio, which the RIAA is calling "a tool for copyright infringement" and is demanding $150,000 per song recorded using this device. Wait a moment - doesn't a tape cassette and an old AM/FM tape deck accomplish the exact same thing? This isn't the first time the music industry has gone bananas over home devices. Many lawsuits were had over VHS tapes, which were years ago predicted to be the doom of the media industry. It's a pity the article has no actual information on this lawsuit, which could prove to be very interesting.
Of course, in retrospect we know how ridiculous that was, and how incredibly useful having recordable media for your own use is. Is this just another desperate attempt by an angry and dying industry to grab everything they can before they sink? Or is there a real complaint here? Should people be allowed to record what they hear over the air? Considering XM is something you by default must pay for and subscribe to, it makes little sense to tell the person what they must do with the content they've purchased.