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XM Responds To Labels' Lawsuit
May 18, 2006 at 5:26 PM (PT)
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Two days after being sued by the major labels over the company's new handheld digital player, "Inno" (see NET NEWS 5/16), XM has finally issued a statement of sorts in the form of an email entitled "Defending The XM Nation." Addressed to XM subscribers, after a few introductory paragraphs detailing new products and such, the email addresses the lawsuit head-on by pointing fingers back at the labels.
So sayeth the email:
"The music industry wants to stop your ability to choose when and where you can listen. Their lawyers have filed a meritless lawsuit to try and stop you from enjoying these radios.
"They don't get it. These devices are clearly legal. Consumers have enjoyed the right to tape off the air for their personal use for decades, from reel-to-reel and the cassette to the VCR and TiVo.
"Our new radios complement download services, they don't replace them. If you want a copy of a song to transfer to other players or burn onto CDs, we make it easy for you to buy them through XM + Napster.
"Satellite radio subscribers like you are law-abiding music consumers; a portion of your subscriber fee pays royalties directly to artists. Instead of going after pirates who don't pay a cent, the record labels are attacking the radios used for the enjoyment of music by consumers like you. It's misguided and wrong.
"We will vigorously defend these radios and your right to enjoy them in court and before Congress, and we expect to win."

