RIAA sues radio station

BOUNTY -HUNTER the RIAA is suing a satellite radio firm, claiming a recording device it uses is more like a music download service than a broadcaster.

The industry bouncer filed a suit against XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. in New York yesterday.

It claims that XM's Inno device stores music in such a way as to make it more like an iPod than a tranny. It says it wants $150,000 in damages for every song XM customers may have copied onto the device, which only went on sale this month.

The RIAA says XM subscribers using the device "will have little need ever again to buy legitimate copies of plaintiffs' sound recordings."

XM said the RIAA's claim is cobblers.

"XM Radio is the largest single payer of digital music broadcast royalties, and royalties paid by XM go to the music industry and benefit artists directly," a spokesman for the radio company said.

"The music labels are trying to stifle innovation, limit consumer choice and roll back consumers' rights to record content for their personal use," he added. µ