The RIAA sued XM satellite radio today over the company's decision to sell XM receivers that can record radio-programs. This is the latest salvo in the labels' attacks on tech companies, but it's easy to forget that in the focus on what XM's player does or doesn't do. EFF's long post on the suit does an [em]excellent[/em] job of explaining how this lawsuit fits into the RIAA's larger strategy of asserting a veto over [em]all[/em] new digital technology, a war that started with Napster and has led inexorably to this: [blockquote] Inducement isn't just for pirates anymore: In the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling in MGM v. Grokster, EFF warned that the newly minted "inducement" weapon would not be reserved for "bad actors," but would also be leveled against legitimate innovators building the next generation of fair use technologies. Sure enough, the complaint accuses XM of inducement based on the following statements in promotional materials: "Hear It, Click It, Save It!," "[XM] delivers new music to you everyday and lets you choose tracks to create your own custom playlists," "record with the touch of a button," and "store up to 50 hours of XM." Not exactly a pirate's "ahoy," is it? [/blockquote] [a href="vny!://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004679.php"]Link[/a]
