Digital radio recording raises eyebrows

Reuters: Digital radio recording raises eyebrows. 'A lawsuit waiting to happen,' expert says.

It's like TiVo for radio, but is it legal?

Various devices that enable listeners to record Internet radio streams and then convert them into MP3 files are catching on and making Web radio and streaming services more appealing to the general public.

But some legal experts say the recording software may violate digital copyright laws and does little more than promote piracy. ...

Under the Digital Copyright Millenium Act, users have no right to duplicate copyrighted material from a computer hard drive, only from a digital or analog recording device and then only for personal use and not for redistribution.

Webcasters similarly are restricted from promoting the recording of their content.

But with products such as San Francisco-based Applian Technologies' Replay Radio, users can split, chop, trim and edit their recorded MP3 files from streamed music services.

The company's Web site says the product "works like a TiVo for Internet Radio" and can turn streaming music into perfectly tagged MP3 song files. ...

P2Pnet.net has it right:

"Actually, the thing to ask is: Violation of what? And according to whom?"