The RIAA would just as soon have them shutdown altogether, and is now seeking to make the satellite radio industry pay more in fines, as well as force more restrictions on users. They claim that the companies in question have invested in technology that lets them "shortchange" the artists, and that devices which allow you to record from a satellite feed turn satellite radio into Napster. This, they claim, threatens the music industry:
A merger could bolster those investments and "seriously threaten the viability of the music industry as a whole," the RIAA wrote. The group also called on the FCC to require the merged companies to pay higher royalty rates in general to the record industry, arguing the firms are "no longer new, struggling companies" that can get away with paying what it called "below-market rates."
The potential merger of XM and Sirius doesn't help the situation, especially since the FCC is still technically opposed to it. Of course, XM opposes the restrictions as do many other groups, most of which claim that it is a right to record content you are paying for.
It is, truly, the RIAA's goal to control the entire spectrum of music, from the instant a note is first recorded all the way down until someone listens to it. Will their outmoded business model prevail over modern technology? I certainly hope not.