Here we have a great article to read where the CEA, in legal arguments with the RIAA or "Recording Industry Artists Association", really lets these whiners have it in front of US lawmakers! The RIAA is lobbying congress, to force upon the broadcast industry, an "audio flag" to be placed in all digital broadcasts that would prevent them from being recorded. They say they are "worried" that people might record them. Worse yet, they say people will be able to record only the songs they like, calling it "disaggregation" or "cherry picking". We call it: "Not recording crap". Trouble is, there is no law against it...yet.
The CEA says that the problem as they see it, is that the RIAA has refused to cooperate in the Copy Protection Technical Working Group, which was established to help prevent mass redistribution of copyrighted works over the Internet. They accuse the RIAA of really, just pushing their own agenda, which threatens "fair use" and fattens their coffers.
Anyway, here is what CEA president Gary Shapiro has to say about the situation:
| "In short, the RIAA wants to stop consumers from doing what they've been doing since a tape recorder was first used to capture a song played over the air for private use. The recording industry's campaign over disaggregation is nothing but a thinly veiled attack on lawful, private, noncommercial, in-home consumer recording practices." The CEA adds that the RIAA hasn't even proposed any technical specification for an audio flag, and chides the music industry for what it calls "misguided lawsuits and overly broad legislation." "The RIAA's interest lies solely in preserving its existing ways of business, with the hope that it can maximize profits by limiting innovation and undermining long-standing consumer rights," said Shapiro, noting that, "the RIAA should not be surprised that we will continue to fight its legislative efforts on Capitol Hill, and that we expect to prevail by defending innovation and consumer rights." |
Ouch! It looks like the gloves are off! Lets hope that the CEA has enough clout to short circuit the RIAA from taking away more of our rights, simply to enhance their revenue streams. Check out the whole article over at BetaNews.
Source: BetaNews
