Dave Horvath
12 Jan 2007 11:29
United States Senator Dianne Feinstein is at it again. Just a little bit ago, Senator Feinstein had entered a bill into Congress called the Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act (PERFORM Act). What this act's main goal was; was to target the current practices of satellite radio broadcasters and their lack of protecting from users streaming and recording music of which they have not paid for. Both Sirius Radio and XM Radio sell devices that allow you to record music from their satellite streams, but they do not allow you to transfer music off of the device. Feinstein and the RIAA feel this is not enough.
Sirius Radio pays a premium license fee for the recorded music and XM Radio does not. PERFORM suggests that the licensing fee should be a universal thing no matter where or when copyrighted material is broadcast.
The Act is also targetting webcasters who provide a music stream of licensed music. The bill states that there is a need for copy protection against the groups listening to the streams and making a digital copy on the fly. The bill suggests that webcasters do not broadcast in DRM-less MP3 format, instead be forced to broadcast proprietary formats that contain DRM for the licensed materials they use.
"New radio services are allowing users to do more than simply listen to music. What was once a passive listening experience has turned into a forum where users can record, manipulate, collect and create personalized music libraries," Feinstein said in a statement. "As the modes of distribution change and the technologies change, so must our laws change."
This statement met with praise by the RIAA who retorted with, "Under the current system, satellite radio has been allowed to morph into a digital distribution service -- shorting the creators of music, displacing licensed sales and threatening the integrity of the digital music marketplace in the process," RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol said.
PERFORM did not make it through Congress the last time it was brought up due to the fact that the Judiciary Chairman of the Senate at the time did not find time to review the case. Unfortunately for those interested in keeping broadcasts the way they are, the new Senate Judiciary Chairman is Patrick Leahy; a notoriously outspoken individual against a great deal of technological advances.
In Feinstein's statement, she noted "Unfortunately, the PERFORM Act stalled in the last Congress. However, I am hopeful that the Judiciary Committee under Senator Leahy's leadership will make time to examine this and other important intellectual property issues. This legislation is too important for it to languish for another Congress."
Source:
Internetnews.com