Fair use is a balancing act pitting the rights of consumers against the integrity of copyright. Several court battles and some intense negotiation gave us the Audio Home Recording Act, the little law that keeps it legal for you to make your own mixtapes and CD's from titles you own.

Now the RIAA is looking to put an end to what shred of goodwill it has left with consumers. A lawsuit filed against XM Satellite Radio this week would seek to put an end to rights consumers have enjoyed for years.

The complaint, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, notes that XM has a license agreement to play the music, but that agreement does not give XM the right to record, distribute, or reproduce copyrighted music. Neglecting the fact that consumers have had the legal right to record music and programming from radio for personal use, and the fact that XM specifically worked to design its devices to comply with existing copyright law, the RIAA has forged ahead into new heights of lowness.

"We worked in good faith with the music industry based on personal assurances that I received that [The Audio Home Recording Act] would put an end to this sort of harassing lawsuit against private, noncommercial consumer conduct. Yesterday the major labels filed such a suit, against the use of devices clearly covered by the AHRA, without so much as a mention of the law that provides for royalties on these devices, and which was clearly written to remove even the threat of this sort of bogus lawsuit." said Gary Shapiro, Chairman of the Home Recording Rights Coalition.

In the end, this may turn out to be a negotiation tactic on the part of the RIAA, in an effort to force XM to cut a deal, as competitor Sirius already has done. Whatever the motivation, it is becoming increasingly difficult to sympathize with the RIAA on any issue, given their continued attempts to sue new technologies out of existence.