Bill tackles so-called new piracy frontier

A new House bill seeks to further protect the music industry from piracy by limiting the ability to record digital radio broadcasts, singling out satellite radio industry competitors XM Radio and Sirius.

Bill proponents are concerned that new portable devices allow consumers to record, sort and store digital broadcasts, resulting in them turning these broadcasts into downloads and creating an unlicensed music library without adequately paying the artist.

Chair Gary Shapiro of the Home Recording Rights Coalition released a statement last week saying that the Perform Act would stifle innovation and "take away recording rights that consumers have used since the birth of the magnetic tape 50 years ago."

"Because the bill does not allow a 'transmission' of a musical recording, it also would appear to block consumers from moving one song from one room to another within their own homes via a digital network," he said.