TiVo-like Application for XM Radio Under Fire 415
Strudelkugel writes "USA Today reports: 'Catching Blondie's reunion tour broadcast at 4 in the morning wasn't an option for XM satellite radio subscriber and single father Scott MacLean. "I was missing concerts that were being broadcasted when I was asleep or out," he said. So the 35-year-old computer programmer from Ottawa, Ontario, wrote a piece of software that let him record the show directly onto his PC hard drive while he snoozed.' As expected, the lawyers are coming out. Seems like a good idea, though. This capability might actually entice me to get an XM radio."
Bleh (Score:5, Insightful)
BItch out their mouthpiece (Score:3, Informative)
About Us - Press Room - Login ... Please call Jennifer Markham (202) 380-4315. Contact Information. Press Contact:
Chance Patterson, VP Corporate Affairs chance.patterson@xmradio.com [mailto]. ...
www.xmradio.com/newsroom/ - 15k - Cached - Similar pages
Hell, even Tivo is more enlightened than this.
Let them know what you think....
Re:Bleh (Score:5, Interesting)
All Sirius subscribers have a login and password so they can stream Sirius channels over the internet when they're away from their satellite tuners (at work, in a different room of the house, etc...) I just start the stream and set a timer on one of the many OS X programs that does timed recordings of whatever's playing through the audio channel. I wake up and in a few minutes convert it (depending on the program I use) and move it to my iPod for listening on the train on the way to work.
I don't have XM, so I don't know if this method is also possible with it. If so, then the lawyers simply can't stop this.
Re:Bleh (Score:5, Insightful)
You may be right that they lawyers can't stop this, but they sure can sue over it. You signed some sort of subscriber agreement for your service and it probably gives them power to prohibit you from doing anything they don't want you doing. Rest assured, if the agreement didn't prohibit unauthorized recording before, it will now. Whether it gives them jurisdiction over this guy's business is questionable, but if he used any SDK of theirs in producing his software then he's probably bound by some agreement. The lawyers can use that to beat him into submission with some lawsuits (valid or not, probably doesn't matter).
Re:Bleh (Score:3, Informative)
I have XM and I didn't sign anything.
Re:Bleh (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Bleh (Score:5, Funny)
http://www.nerosoft.com/TimeTrax/ [nerosoft.com]
Re:Bleh (Score:4, Informative)
But TFA is in USA Today. Who'd think there was any more information than the
Re: Link to software page (Score:3, Insightful)
Since XM made the SDK for the USB XM radio in question, this is ridiculous. I don't see how this software could do anything but get them more subscribers & sell more radios. Go ahead and shoot yourself in the foot XM.
Re: Link to software page (Score:5, Informative)
One interesting post by the developer indicates that he has purged purchaser's personal information from his database:
As there has been some concern about contact information held by me, I have changed my database so that the only information stored is the issued key number. Email addresses and any other identifying information about purchasers is discarded immediately after the credit card validation process has completed.
The key number is derived from a one-way hash using your radio ID and some other internal information. It will work only with your radio, however no information (including the radio ID) can be derived from it.
Re: Link to software page (Score:4, Insightful)
I call bullshit on that statement. First of all, the ruling authority is the Sony vs. Universal (Betamax) case which grants individuals the fair use right to record television shows for personal viewing and sharing, also called timeshifting.
It would seem that the same rule would apply to radio broadcasts. Therefore, your argument is that a stated more restrictive license would overrule this fair use right. That is completely untested in court and there are no legal authorities which support that specific position.
The counter-argument is that there are certain rights that simply cannot be contracted away, even if they are explicitly restricted in a license. For example, take the reverse engineering restriction found in almost all licenses. It's basically unenforceable. In every case where there was pure reverse engineering, the licensor who sues has lost on the fair use grounds.
None of us knows what courts will decide. The DMCA throws another challenge into the point because I am sure XM Radio encrypts their data so the technical method for doing the timeshifting could be important to some judges. But in the end, until a court says so, the issue is not clear.
A few bits.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Music labels fear that the convenience of MacLean's software will lead millions more to copy and distribute songs over file-sharing networks such as KaZaA, a music industry source said.
"Millions more"? Aren't there a hell of a lot of people sharing music as it is? Something like 60 million people?
Even if all 2.1 million subscribers jump on the bandwagon, 2 million subcribers (Q2 - 2004, XM website) seems like a drop in the bucket.....TFA states that only something like 2400 subscribers have gotten a copy. 400 have paid.....The RIAA's got plenty more people to sue, and an archaic business model to sustain......
A thought though - if they aren't sharing, but only recording copies to listen to, doesn't that fall under fair use somewhere? Time shifting != illegal, right?
"
the Recording Industry Association of America said his organization had not reviewed the software, but said that in principle it was disturbed by the idea."
Tell us something we don't already know......
-thewldisntenuff
Re:A few bits.... (Score:3, Funny)
I guess they missed Streamripper and others like it then... I'm surprised none of them has had a stroke yet from all the stress they give themselves.
Re:A few bits.... (Score:4, Informative)
the Recording Industry Association of America said his organization had not reviewed the software
Interestingly, the programmer is from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Out of the RIAA's jurisdiction.
Re:A few bits.... (Score:5, Informative)
I'm sure they'd love to sue the pants off Scott MacLean too, fortunately our judicial system is a little more sane.
The stuff the RIAA gets away with in the US just wouldn't fly in Canada.
Re:A few bits.... (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, wait, we don't have that in the US. Sorry, nevermind.
Re:A few bits.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Interestingly, the programmer is from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Out of the RIAA's jurisdiction.
When I looked at this point I felt there was something slightly disturbing about it but wasn't sure what it was, after a moment it clicked. The RIAA isn't a law enforcement agency, they don't have a jurisdiction [reference.com]!!!
How have we allowed a private organization to gain powers so great that we would confuse them with the police?
Allowing private groups to act as cops is an old (Score:5, Interesting)
In the early part of the twentieth century, a fellow by the name of Anthony Comstock gained extrordinary powers using a similar tactic to that used by the RIAA today, ie a moral crusade against vice. Instead of thieving child porn traders Comstock was convinced obscenity and birth control would destoroy the nation.
Comstock's enormous power came from the creation of a private organization called the New York Society for the Supression of Vice. Eventually, this private organization was allowed to place officers in US Post Offices to read through the mail looking for obscenity. This had nothing to do with the law per-se, he was simply well connected and feared.
So, in the US it is quite possible, and even normal for a non-governmental agency to take on police powers despite the fact that this does not seem to make sense under law.
Re:Allowing private groups to act as cops is an ol (Score:3, Funny)
And today, most doctors are convinced obesity and the lack of girth control will destoroy the nation.
Re:A few bits.... (Score:3, Insightful)
RIAA unleaches army of lawyers (Score:5, Funny)
Re:RIAA unleaches army of lawyers (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:RIAA unleaches army of lawyers (Score:4, Informative)
I agree it would be a travesty, but there is a very real risk of it happening. There are quite a few people who want to do exactly that, including several congressmen and even the head of the US copyright office. Sickening.
-
No DMCA violation required... (Score:5, Insightful)
The XM-PCR device is an XM tuner that is controled by USB, but returns its audio to the PC by the line in port on a soundcard. The audio is digital comming off the XM signal, but it's analog by the time it leaves the black box. So, all the computer needs to do is activate a recorder on the line in port and away it goes...
There's drivers on the XM site for Windows, Mac and Linux. They're actively encuraging development, so it's not surprising somebody would come up with this idea.
Re:No DMCA violation required... (Score:4, Interesting)
there's a mod too add a TOSlink connector to the xm pcr, which provides digital out. i dont have it on mine, but according to some tests people did, it's slightly better than the line out, with less white noise.
Re:No DMCA violation required... (Score:5, Informative)
These are not important in a car, but don't stand up to any kind of critical listening.
Its a tempest in a teapot.
Re:No DMCA violation required... (Score:3, Interesting)
This is what kills me about all digital music... People frown on cassettes and analog records, but will happily listen to crappy MP3s... You can defeat *any* DRM by using a cable that goes from your line-out jack to your line-in jack. The horror of sound degradation from that method is not going to compare to how crappy you make the MP3 sound anyhow, so what's the big deal?
Of course, most of the music I listen to (bad punk) was probably recorded in a garge with a conden
Re:No DMCA violation required... (Score:4, Insightful)
with an mp3 you get quality degradation once; with a cassette it gets worse as time passes.
Re:No DMCA violation required... (Score:5, Informative)
Yeah, that's awful. It's a damn shame when people are able to enjoy what they buy, especially if YOU think the quality is too shabby for your discerning tastes.
In the area of digital satellite/cable, unless you're willing to pay through the nose in terms of money and space for a big dish, NTSC MPEG-2 is the best you can get (I consider HDTV a very separate category, especially since it's still not even nearly the majority of available programming). If a few artifacts are the price to be paid for having a couple hundred channels, that's just the way it goes.
Further, it's not a matter of the "average American" - and, wow, you sure make that seem like an insult - not being able to tell the difference. On a decent TV. I expect most CAN tell the difference between a good DVD and the same content on digital cable/satellite. It's a matter of WHAT IS AVAILABLE and WHAT IS COST-EFFECTIVE. It would be great to have the original, pure NTSC analog signal coming through with no interference, but that's just not practical for the vast majority of TV viewers.
As a side note, I would mention that part of the artifacting problem is indeed increased MPEG-2 compression, but another part is the fact that the signals are being encoded in real-time. DirecTV, Comcast, Dish Network, etc. don't get all the programming a couple weeks in advance, encode it and then broadcast it on the appropriate days. The signals arrive in their native form from the content providers and are encoded on the fly for distribution (or, for analog cable/VHF/UHF, just retransmitted) within seconds - this is the biggest reason for the very artifacts you describe in busy CG video and jump cuts (Homicide: Life on the Street was very difficult for me to watch on two different Dish Network stations - Lifetime and CourtTV - due to their very liberal use of handheld cameras). The quality of these signals is inevitably going to be lower than DVD quality, and this is magnified when dealing with an NTSC tape source as opposed to the HD masters from which most movie DVDs are derived.
Of course, if the FCC has their way, eventually there will be no such thing as live TV anywhere and they can put every channel on a five- to ten-minute delay. It would be a shame in free speech terms (I consider all FCC forays into this area direct violations of the 1st amendment, myself) but it would probably allow for better MPEG encoding.
Re:No DMCA violation required... (Score:3, Insightful)
laws (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:laws (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:laws (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:laws (Score:5, Funny)
I'm no follower of Debbie Harry either, but dragging the poor guy into court for being a fan is going too far.
They should be cracking down on real criminals.
J Lo fans.
Re:laws (Score:5, Insightful)
No such law (Score:5, Interesting)
http://beau.org/~jmorris/linux/cuecat/
Re:No such law (Score:4, Informative)
But to fight them long term we have to make the politicians who give us crap like the DMCA fear us more than they want to make the MPAA/RIAA happy. As things stand BOTH major political power structures are against us. The Democrats supported DMCA, the Sonny Bono extension, etc because they depend on cold cash from the Hollywood left. The Republicans went right along because they like busineses like Time Warner and News Corp and the cash they pony up. Neither sees us as either a voting or donor block important enough to bother listening to.
Re:No such law (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:laws (Score:5, Insightful)
So they're predicting a shutdown even though they've no idea if it is breaking any laws. You can translate this as "Our revenues are $20million a month, we can afford lawyers who will bury this person under frivolous litigation until he's bankrupt. And hey, if we can find a law that will support us, then we could win in court assuming it manages to go all the way to a judgement"
It's pretty much all posturing. The company is working on the same exact thing which they are going to sell for an additional monthly fee. Of course there will shortly be an open source competitor up on sourceforge (assuming there isn't already).
Re:laws (Score:3, Informative)
The RIAA has a lot of posturing in this, but no real control.
Re:laws (Score:3, Interesting)
b) Use Limitations.
You may not reproduce, rebroadcast, or otherwise transmit the programming, record the programming, charge admission specifically for the purpose of listening to the programming, or distribute play lists of the programming. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 9, we or any of our programming partners may prosecute violations of the foregoing against you and other responsible parties in any court of competent jurisdiction, under
Re:laws (Score:3, Interesting)
haha (Score:5, Funny)
So he stayed up till 4AM programming.
Re:haha (Score:4, Insightful)
So he stayed up till 4AM programming.
Yes, but only once, and in doing so, he taught the world how to fish.
--
Was it the sheep climbing onto the altar, or the cattle lowing to be slain,
or the Son of God hanging dead and bloodied on a cross that told me this was a world condemned, but loved and bought with blood.
XM biting a hand that feeds it? (Score:5, Interesting)
The XM PCR revolution is in full effect. Across the XM Nation, we're excited to see independent developers creating fantastic new versions of the XM PCR software for a wide range of platforms including Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows.
So they want people to come up with creative software to use the XM PCR unit, but just not this way?...
No Easy to Use Software? (Score:3, Funny)
So they're suing him for creating easy to use software... great... time to sue Microsoft because everyone claims Windows is the easiest!
WTF? (Score:4, Insightful)
"We remain concerned about any devices or software that permit listeners to transform a broadcast into a music library," RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said.
Analog tape recorders have allowed people to add broadcasts to their music libraries since before I was born.
All this software does is make it a little more convienent than plugging an analog tape recorder into your XM receiver. It's stupid that they'd even consult their lawyers about this.
LK
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't recall analog tape recorders that could take a broadcast, turn it into an MP3 file per song, and tag it and sort it out by artist and album, all automatically.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Funny)
You must be a youngster. In the olden days we had these things called pens and pencils that allowed us to write the names of the artists and songs on the liner of the cassette tape.
LK
They didn't see this one coming? (Score:5, Insightful)
Ah, but they know how to kill it. (Score:3, Interesting)
Digital FM (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Digital FM (Score:5, Insightful)
Frightening Snippet (Score:5, Interesting)
A spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America said his organization had not reviewed the software, but said that in principle it was disturbed by the idea. "We remain concerned about any devices or software that permit listeners to transform a broadcast into a music library," RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said.
The RIAA and XM are both busy figuring out if any copyright laws and user agreements have been broken.
Nowhere in the article is there any mention of fair use rights or the legality of this sort of software. The RIAA is obviously very concerned about this, as it would definitely affect their willingness to release entire albums over the air. Blah.
Re:The real problem (Score:5, Interesting)
Exactly. Which explains why the music industry was utterly destroyed by the cassette recorder, and finished off by ISA FM radio cards.
Re:The real problem (Score:4, Interesting)
Get it straight: The guy who wrote the software should be cleared under SvsB. The folks who abuse it, however, are protected only by their relative anonymity.
Since when is XM legally available in Canada? (Score:5, Interesting)
From the XM FAQ
Is XM Service available in Canada and Mexico?
XM is only licensed to provide service to the US (All states except Alaska and Hawaii), its territories and adjacent waters. XM's satellite signal reaches into portions of Canada and Mexico near the U.S. borders however, XM's service is not currently sold in Canada, Mexico or any other region outside of the continental United States.
Sounds like a grey market resale. Similar to the DBS grey market. You get an US address and subscribe. Since the border is not microwave proof we can pick up the signals.
I think he should be more worried about the CRTC coming for him.
Re:Since when is XM legally available in Canada? (Score:4, Interesting)
Could it really be that they are afraid of the big, bad CRTC?
Re:Since when is XM legally available in Canada? (Score:4, Informative)
B: XM's satellite signals are aimed towards the USA because, well, nearly all signal they send outside of the US borders would be a total waste of energy. They could legally paint all of Canada with signal with a broad beam that also hits part of the USA thanks to the "we'll tolerate each other's signal splashes" deal between the nations, but since they'll never be allowed to openly sell up there, they might as well direct their signal to where paying customers actually will be.
Re:Since when is XM legally available in Canada? (Score:4, Insightful)
dish network users already have this w/Sirrus! (Score:5, Interesting)
I usually just pause the station for 50 or 60 mins before I listen and then just FF through the songs I don't like. I don't feel like a criminal
Re:dish network users already have this w/Sirrus! (Score:3, Informative)
XM has been waiting for this. (Score:4, Interesting)
Just what law do they imagine is being broken? (Score:5, Insightful)
time shifting as a legitimate use of consumer recording technology, it's damned hard to imagine what law they think consumers might be breaking. It is not illegal for me to tape every broadcast of a television show and to build my own personal library. It would seem very difficult to argue that doing the same thing using XM radio would be any different.
Dear XM (Score:5, Interesting)
Over the past few months, I have been evaluating purchasing and subscribing to a satellite radio service. I have been weighing pros and cons of both yours and the Sirrius service. I mostly came up with even hands. However, your recent disappointing legal actions against Scott MacLean have helped me make my final decision. I will not be purchasing or subscribing to any XM satellite radio service, and I will encourage my friends and neighbors to avoid your service as well.
Thanks for your help,
Jeff
Re:Dear XM (Score:5, Insightful)
They haven't sued the guy, they've just had their lawyer send a nasty-worded letter that the software writer correctly knew he could ignore. So far they've just gone through the motions of being upset without actually doing anything to harm the guy.
Re:Dear XM (Score:4, Insightful)
And I didn't punch him in the face, I just said I would and then took a fake swing. Guess what: that's illegal, as it should be. How is this any different?
Cheers.
Re:Dear XM (Score:3, Insightful)
They, however, have a right to sue him at any time. I in fact could sue you right now if I felt like it... oh, I have no chance of winning such a lawsuit because I have no idea what it would be about, but our system doesn't have much if any penality for filing a worthless lawsuit, so threatening to file a worthless lawsuit certainly doesn't merit any penality.
So what's new? I do this now all the time... (Score:4, Informative)
XM leaving out USB connectivity in new receivers (Score:3, Informative)
My question is, it seems pretty obvious to me that someone was going to do this, so why release the PCR at all? My guess is that they didn't want to offer online streaming like Sirius [sirius.com] and wanted to pick up extra subscriptions for PCRs. Look what that got them. In any case, XM has a neat product and is doing well.
this is getting out of control.... (Score:3, Insightful)
how can recording a service you legally subscribe to for your own personal use be even thought of as being illegal?
unless he's using the recordings to sell as a product, or to re-broadcast himself, there is nothing remotely illegal about anything of this nature. and if there is, the laws need to be changed.
Missing adjective (Score:3, Informative)
Please insert "crappy" before "songs". I've had XM for a year and it's rare to hear two worthwhile songs back to back on any station. They seem to focus on "deep tracks", defined to be the stuff fans of the band don't even like.
After a few hours of listening to my friend's Sirius, I regretted choosing XM, and only chose XM because they seemed to have the subscriber numbers to last long term.
What the fuck is going on (Score:5, Insightful)
((("That's a product that's not authorized by XM," Chance Patterson, vice president of corporate affairs, told Reuters last week.)))
Excuse me, but why does the world need YOUR permission to record broadcasts? Can I set my coffee cup next to the radio and illegally alter it's temperature?
I know the law is fucked up right now but this kind of stuff still continues to amaze me.
Yes, it's not authorized by XM, so what?
((("That program is something we don't condone
I was actually thinking of buying an XM radio and recording shows was a *specific feature I wanted*. I was planning on writing my own program to do what this guy is selling. How hard can it be? When I was a kid I used to record the radio all the time, that's probably why I'm a big music buyer now.
I'm not going to bother. XM is spawned from the same primordial ooze that the RIAA crawled from. These guys are all the same. You can't even jerk off within 10 feet of their "licensed product" without paying a fee.
(((Michael McGuire, an analyst at technology research firm Gartner. "It's very hard for policy and copyright law to keep up with the pace of technological change.")))
What does copyright law need to do, make sure it gets in the way of any product that comes out? It's funny how we have this constitution that's supposed to be a firewall from government, but it has a big open port: the copyright clause. Pretty soon, are whole legal system will revolve around some form of copyright, since everything is based on information. Just amazing and frightening.
((("We remain concerned about any devices or software that permit listeners to transform a broadcast into a music library,")))
Un-fucking-believable. One thing is for certain, you're not transforming any of my money into vacations in Europe anytime soon, Mr. RIAA exec.
(((In a letter seen by Reuters, XM's lawyers told MacLean to
And what will they do with that list I wonder? Report it to Tom Ridge? What on earth?????
20 years ago this kind of stuff would be great satire. I can't imagine what 20 years from now will be like. And honestly, I I don't want to.
Re:What the fuck is going on (Score:5, Interesting)
Wonder if the typical slashdotter is starting to get the picture of why the NRA gets wigged out when gun registration is mentioned??? Besides, would XM turn over their customer list if some scumbag lawyer asked for it?
They still don't get it. (Score:3, Insightful)
Why is it that entertainment producers work so hard to make their products not entertaining? To me, it seems pretty retarded, but, perhaps, I'm just not as wise and all-seeing as they are.
What about the Radio Shark? (Score:3, Interesting)
They'll probably ignore it until there's a PC version.
No wonder (Score:3, Funny)
They just won't give up... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm all for supporting the artists, but I am already paying 10 bucks a month for XM radio (actually it'll be about 21 a month, with my second radio, and the Opie and Anthony premium subscriptions). If I want to record a few songs for my own personal use, as long as I don't put them up on Kazaa, who the hell's business is that - this is supposed to be my damned right, and the artists ARE getting paid. XM needs to pull the stick out of its ass re: their EULA, and the RIAA needs to die.
You can't sell people on a product (the XM PCR) and the freedoms and flexibility it gives you (seriously, read their marketing copy selling these things), then get pissed when people start paying you money in order to take advantage of its freedoms and flexibility using third party software.
He raised the price on Tuesday to $29.95... (Score:3, Funny)
XM officially supports time shifting (Score:3, Interesting)
"Provide a List of Purchasers?" (Score:5, Insightful)
WTF? They're going to go after people recording songs off the radio now?
Re:"Provide a List of Purchasers?" (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:"Provide a List of Purchasers?" (Score:3, Insightful)
Even though it's digital and the quality is better than from a tape, it doesn't make it easier than directly searching for and downloading the song from older piracy means.
At this point, I'm sure 3/4 of the people here slap t
This calls for a new standard.... (Score:5, Funny)
Imagine Sen. Hatch on the 5pm news:
"Jizz will destroy the hard work thousands of people. If we allow jizz to spread, thousands of jobs will be lost. Not to mention the kids, what will all this jizz everywhere do to the kids?"
USA Today... (Score:3, Funny)
"Number 2 is Number 1"
"America's Favorite Pencil"
USA Today... the newspaper that's not afraid to tell it like it is: Everything's going to be just fine
With apologies to the Simpsons...
forgive me for going off on a rant but... (Score:3, Insightful)
so anyway, i love the idea of timetrax. it's not like i'm going to record everything off of xm, and then cancel my subscription, and then never buy a cd. rather, there are some songs i would like to listen to a few more times than they get played, and i want to be able to record shows that i'd miss otherwise, or might want to listen to again sometime. i understand that officially, XM can't support actions like this, but threatening legal action against it only gonna piss people off, and i bet this functionality will end up selling a lot of these XM PCRs. i'm one new subscriber already.
Uhh...What wins? (Score:4, Interesting)
b) Use Limitations.
You may not reproduce, rebroadcast, or otherwise transmit the programming, record the programming, charge admission specifically for the purpose of listening to the programming, or distribute play lists of the programming. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 9*, we or any of our programming partners may prosecute violations of the foregoing against you and other responsible parties in any court of competent jurisdiction, under the rules and regulations of the FCC, and other applicable laws. Subscription to the Service does not grant you the right to use any of our or our partners' trademarks.
So - does this trump Fair Use or what? Obviously complicated by the whole Canada thing - but what about here?
9. RESOLVING DISPUTES.
In order to expedite and control the cost of disputes, you agree that any legal or equitable claim relating to this Agreement, or the Service (referred to as a "Claim") will be resolved as follows:
c) Exceptions.
Re:Uhh...What wins? (Score:4, Informative)
Common law always wins over individual licenses.
Disclaimer: IANAL
Nice quote here... (Score:3, Funny)
Well, I guess they better ban CDs, DVDs, and all MP3/audio players then!
Free hackers tool (Score:4, Interesting)
What much more interesting is that this same guy has written an ActiveX component [nerosoft.com] which you can use to write more applications like his -- and which is free for non-commercial use. Hackers, start your editors!
XM Radio now with Digital Out! (Score:3, Interesting)
Risking redundancy... It's a paradigm change... (Score:5, Insightful)
Big media, instead of plugging the dike with thumb-like legal shenannigans, should be expending their efforts in finding a new business model that will actually work instead of pissing off their paying customers. The march of technology is relentless and people are resourceful. It's nothing but a losing game for RIAA and MPAA to try and stop it. Wake up, folks.
"Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
Re:Risking redundancy... It's a paradigm change... (Score:3, Insightful)
From this link: [ezboard.com]:
XM in Canada? (Score:3, Informative)
(And no, that's not an XM antenna on the roof of my car... :P )
I think there is actually a mod out there to add either a coaxial or optical connector to your XM, though i think someone might have already posted about that...
XM Actually Likes this feature!!! (Score:5, Informative)
XM PCR discontinued? (Score:4, Interesting)
1) that sucks, 'cause I wanted to figure out how to integrate the PCR into my in-house MP3 network, and
2) it's crazy that they stop selling a product just because a small number of purchasers are doing something they don't like with it.
I wonder how long it'll be before someone figures out how to modify the car tuner (XM Direct, if it ever ships) to be computer controlled...
Anyway, I just thought I'd mention it. I haven't seen official confirmation (it's still on the XM website, for example), but the mods on XMFan seem to be in the know, and they're saying it's true.
*sigh*
Re:thoughts (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:thoughts (Score:3, Interesting)
There's a professor here at the U of U who teaches a "Digital IP Law" class, and who seems to have done a lot of the thinking behind the INDUCE Act. So I decided not to take the class, for fear of the whole thing turning into a Slashdot-esque flame war where my GPA was on the line. But one interesting point he tried
Re:thoughts (Score:3, Interesting)
Really? And why not? I don't recall anything from the Betamax case, or from any other court case, to indicate you somehow commit copyright infringment if you play it a second time. And unless I'm mistaken the Betamax case did directly acknowledge that many of the people involve were keeping "libraries" of tapes. The Betamax judges never suggested that that was infringment.
Sony vs. Betamax's "substantial non-infringing use" test
Re:Easy. (Score:3, Informative)