>Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1998 11:21:54 -0700 (PDT)
>To: Nameless <nameless@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>From: Jay Babcock <jaybab@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: <nameless> latest on Rio
>Reply-To: nameless@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Sender: owner-nameless@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>and a bit more from sonicnet:
>
>Music Industry Temporarily Halts Sale  Of MP3 Digital Player
>
>A hearing for full injunction in battle to prevent distribution of
>controversial device is scheduled for Oct. 26.
>
>
>A music industry group has prevailed in the first round of its fight to
>keep a                               new portable digital-music player off
>store shelves nationwide and, thus, out of
>the hands of consumers.
>
>A California judge Friday granted the Recording Industry Association of
>America                               a 10-day restraining order preventing
>the sale or distribution of Diamond
>Multimedia's Rio, a Walkman-like device that allows users to download songs
>on                               their computers and listen to them on the
>portable machine in the controversial                               MP3
>digital format.
>
>The ruling "is a good indication our case is strong," said Hillary Rosen,
>president and CEO of the RIAA, on Friday.
>
>She added that talks between the music and electronics industry are, in the


>RIAA's view, the best way to approach burgeoning technology such as MP3s.
>"My                               hope is that this proceeding leads to
>[discussions] more quickly," Rosen said.
>
>San Jose, Calif.-based Diamond Multimedia had planned to have the
>$199-base-priced Rio in stores such as Best Buy and CompUSA in early
>November. Diamond spokesman Ken Wirt was unavailable for comment.
>
>The next hearing, during which Judge Audrey Collins will decide whether to
>grant an injunction against the sale and distribution of Rios, is set for
>Oct. 26.
>
>Friday's decision in the Federal District Court for the Central District of
>California was the latest step in the lawsuit the RIAA filed Oct. 9 to seek
>an injunction on grounds that the Rio violates the 1992 Audio Home
>Recording Act.
>
>That 1992 measure specifies that manufacturers and distributors of digital
>recording devices pay a royalty to a general industry-fund that offsets
>lost revenues from the illegal copying of music. It also stipulates that
>the machines be equipped with the Serial Copyright Management System, which
>prevents unauthorized production  of second-generation copies.
>
>Diamond, however, maintains that the Rio is a player, not a recording
>device, and thus not subject to the AHRA, Wirt said last week.
>
>The MP3 format allows songs to be transferred across the Internet in
>near-CD-quality. During the past year,  MP3s have become increasingly
>popular with mainstream computer users. While the format itself is not
>illegal, critics, such as the RIAA, say MP3s invite users to distribute
>copyright-protected music free of charge  without authorization.
>
>The Rio player, which is about the size of a deck of cards, has no moving
>parts. Users transfer MP3s to the device's memory by plugging it into a
>computer.
>
>Last summer, punk-rappers the Beastie Boys gave the format a high-profile
>boost by posting their single "Intergalactic" (RealAudio excerpt) in MP3
>format on their official website. They later posted MP3s of live
>performances by the group as well.
>
>Michael Robertson, president of the popular "MP3.com" website, said that
>even if an injunction against the Rio is granted, that ruling would be only
>a "speed bump" along the road of a coming downloadable music revolution.
>
>"This is just a little tiny battle in the much bigger war about Internet
>music, and how it's going to develop,  who's leading the charge, and if
>there's going to be freedom to develop music ... outside of today's
>channels,"  Robertson said. His company has signed an agreement to
>distribute MP3s on CD to Rio purchasers.


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