Earlier today, Steve Jobs wrote a long open-letter on apple.com that he titled “Thoughts on Music”. The letter details his thoughts on encrypting music with DRM and why Apple does not want to license out its FairPlay DRM.

One point that he addresses at the end is that it would not only be very beneficial for the record companies to get rid of DRM, but that “Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat”. It would mean that all downloads would be unprotected, could be played on virtually any MP3 player and bought from any music store. As Steve Jobs notes: “2 billion DRM-protected songs were sold worldwide by online stores, while over 20 billion songs were sold completely DRM-free and unprotected on CDs by the music companies themselves”. Doing this would only make online music the same type that you get on a CD: unprotected.

This could easily benefit Sirius, as well as XM. With this happening suddenly people can buy music in iTunes, then load it onto their Stiletto or S50. Suddenly those who don’t want a portable satellite radio player because they want something that can play iTunes will have a choice. It will also make the satellite radio companies and their hardware partners step up even more, as they will want to market their devices to more than just the people who are actively interested in satellite radio. Instead of having an MP3 player be a side benefit to the satellite radio, they can make satellite radio a side benefit to unlocked MP3 players.

With Dianne Feinstein re-creating the PERFORM act yesterday, we would like to talk more about it, including what we know so far, and who to contact to help defeat it in committee.

With the bill being released, we now know it is bill number S.256(Congressional Record). Feinstein gave a speech about it. Here is the summary of the bill:

-Royalties will be decided for satellite radio, internet radio, et al as a whole

-It will raise the cost of recordable receivers, by making the maker pay a ‘reproduction royalty’

-It won’t prevent the radios from recording prechosen timeslots, such as recording Fridays from 3-4p.

-Traditional Radio is not applicable to this bill.

Click for Analysis, quotes from Feinstein, and who you can contact and how to help this bill get defeated

Former spokesperson for the RIAA, Ms. Rosen now leads a consulting group whose clients include XM. In this interview with Wired magazine, she talks about DRM and how recording rights ought to apply to SDARS services like XM and Sirius. She makes references to Sirius including this part in regards to the earlier announced settlement:

“There’s been a lot of bad information reported about this, both on what the device does and the business choices XM has made. People have said, well Sirius chose to pay additional monies for their devices but XM didn’t. That’s not true. XM did offer to pay additional monies, in fact, at greater levels than what Sirius is paying, but the record companies, I think, were just looking for a lawsuit on this one because they’re hesitant about these devices going forward.”

I thought it was interesting from a wider angle of music-lovers, but also applicable to SDARS fans (like us).

Comment Here

Orbitcast.com has the story…

The CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) posted an advertisement in a Capitol Hill publication urging legislators to oppose restrictions on satellite radio. The ad pulls no punches, highlighting some of the self-benefitting dreck that the RIAA, MPAA and ASCAP have spouting over the past. century.

View the ad here

To help stop legislation against satellite radio contact your congressmen.

Comment Here.

Andrew Kantor published a great article in USA TODAY about the looming battle between the RIAA and the satellite radio industry. At risk is the ability to record the programming that you pay for and the future of innovative radio devices.

Kantor writes:

“The entertainment industry has been pushing hard - using the tired mantra of “stopping piracy” - to have technologies implemented that will strip you of these rights. It’s working to cripple the devices you use to watch videos and listen to music so you can only use the content you buy the way they say you can, legal rights be damned.”

If you have a friend who is a state representative, or in a position of authority, please update them on the importance of this issue. We must all be aware of the impending fight to protect our rights as a consumer and satellite radio listener.

Please take a few minutes and read the article.

The RIAA has sued XM over their Pioneer Inno device, saying that it allows for “massive wholesale infringement”, according to the RIAA. The suit is seeking damages of $150,000 per song downloaded from XM’s service using the device. Our take on this: it’s a BS claim. Odds are they will settle out of court. BUT, it might mean either a delay in sending out the Sirius live portable expected out later this summer, cutting back features it will have, or both. If the new live portable has a very strong FM transmitter as well, it could mean the odds of a delay have increased after what happened earlier today with XM and their Audiovox Xpress being pulled due to problems with their FM transmitter.What you can do though, is take the issue to your congresspeople. Tell them that you don’t want your music to be so tightly controlled. It is against your rights to not be able to make a recording of a live broadcast for your own personal use. Go to Congress.org and put in your zip code to find out who your congresspeople are. Write to your senators and your representative in the house. If you want to know who should be your highest priority, find out if one of the senators is running for election in November, this is the time when they listen to the people most.