Yesterday I went balistic over the FCC's failure to protect the public interest by offering radio stations involved in a recent payola scandal a sweetheart deal. Today however, it's a Senator who is selling you down the river. Boing Boing reports on the PERFORM act, something we've covered before but had written off for dead. Sen. Dianne Fienstein has reintroduced the bill that would outlaw the creation of any device that can record digital radio or internet streams. In layman's speak, PERFORM makes a TiVo like device for radio illegal to manufacture, produce or sell.
Your Sirius s50 or XM2go is toast under a bill like this. Even the simple pause to time-shift of a receiver like the Sirius Starmate could be in danger. And stream recording? Forget about it. This bill makes illegal a great number of things we consider fair use and makes criminals out of radio fans.
The EFF can help you find and contact your Representative or Senator so you can give them an earful.
See Also:
HRRC Raises Voice on PERFORM Act
Bob Schwartz On The PERFORM Act
PERFORM Act, XM President Speaks Out
PERFORM Calls for Manditory DRM On Streaming Music
1. Fienstein's a wacko-- I don't know why she keeps getting re-elected.
Posted at 2:33AM on Jan 15th 2007 by Nicholas