Get Your Geek On...

Again, the RIAA takes on digital music, this time trying to pass legislation that would prohibit digital radio players, such as those that Sirius and XM sell, from recording music or other programs for less than 30 minutes, allowing the user of the device to search for a song or artist, and deleting old content while recording the new content. This will basically render the players useless by making them act like a very costly cassette tape (rewinding and fast-forwarding to find the content you want) instead of a digital music player.
If iTunes has shown the world anything, it's that people are willing to pay for quality digital content. iTunes has sold millions of tracks to its users, all of whom pay for the files. There is still, without a doubt, digital music and movie piracy, and people will find a way around the satellite radio legislation if it's passed. Already, there are programs that can rip feeds from web-based radio programs and divvy them into "tracks." The RIAA, just like it did with Napster, is acting too late to stem the tide, and acting inappropriately.
Perhaps XM and Sirius can offer their content online in downloadable form, with varying prices for talk shows, entire blocks of programming, or individual tracks, much like iTunes. Maybe charging subscribers an additional fee for recording the programs, or banning customers who retransmit the programs without permission of the company would be the better alternative. Getting into a Lars Ulrich-style fight with technology will just make the RIAA look a group of out-of-touch geezers.