RIAA Nightmare: Pro-level Portable Hard Disk Recorder

ratfynk writes "Anybody interested in creating their own MP3 or WAV recordings should take a look at this device. It is a compact hard drive recorder that looks like it is the next logical step beyond ADAT. My interest is fair use, the ability to record my compositions and performance with studio grade equipment at a reasonable cost. This device seems to fit the bill. Specs are available at micsupply.com. This device looks so good that the RIAA might try to make it illegal." For a not-cheap but cheaper alternative, check out the updated-weekly Core Sound page on their PDA-based recorder mentioned a few months ago.

Comments

i doubt the riaa can stop this

[Anonymous Coward]

for one reason and one reason alone, fair fvcking use. we still have the rights in this country to purchase items to use for our convenience. they should not, and in my opinion, never will have the fvcking right to tell me that i as an american cannot buy a product because it would hurt their industry. its like telling a cay buyer not to buy a chevy because it would hurt his ford dealership.

They can try...

[armyofone]

This device looks so good that the RIAA might try to make it illegal.

The more they try, the more innovations will come along. The RIAA are fighting a losing battle. The sooner they realize it, the better off everyone, (including the RIAA), will be.

Re:They can try...

[squiggleslash]

Jeez. Will you people lay off?

In the UK, the popular comedians Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse have a pair of characters called the "Self-righteous Brothers". Conversations usually go along the lines of:

First: Did you hear about that Linus Torvalds? He wrote an operating system and distributed to everyone for free
Second: Ah Torvalds, a master of his craft. His Linux kernel is widely regarded as one of the finest components of the GNU/Linux operating system, a superbly designed example of technical excellence
First: Oh yes. And if Torvalds were to come round my house, I'd gladly shake him by the hand.
Second: You're right there
First: Mind you, if he were to invite himself in, start making himself some tea without even asking if I wanted some, made a mess all over the kitchen, and ate all my biscuits, I'd be outraged.
Second: As well you might be.
At this point, both characters are seething with rage
First: I'd say "Oi! Torvalds! Noooo! You might be a superb C programmer, and your generousity distributing your operating system for free is well appreciated. But you don't start using up my tea, and making a mess of the kitchen, without my permission!" And I'd give him a slap.
Second: And you'd be well in order there. Bloody computer programmers, think they own everything.

You get the idea. Ok, Enfield and Whitehouse wouldn't choose such a nerdy subject, but you get the gist.

And the moment someone comes up with anything to do with music, Slashdotters go off and do their "Bloody RIAA, think they own everything" act, no matter how inappropriate.

We even saw that with the iTunes Music Store threads. That's the music service backed by the major labels. Those are the labels that fund the RIAA. Everyone saw that in the write ups and they still went into a frothing self-righteous quixotic rage about how the RIAA would try to shut it down.

The RIAA hasn't made any comments to the best of my knowledge about this particular piece of equipment. Nor would they want to. It's as infringing as an MP3 player. It's not a way of transporting music to masses of people anonymously. It'll make no serious dent in piracy terms. And it'll make music more valuable. The RIAA have done some bloody stupid things before, but they're not challenging Apple over the iPod - why would they try to make this illegal?

It gets worse. The writeup implies that the RIAA's solution to what it sees as threats is to go to congress and lobby for new laws. That's bollocks. The only new law the RIAA has lobbied for in recent history concerning copyright infringements has been a law allowing it to hack into computers. It's not a sane proposal - nobody would imply that - but it's a world away from proposing further restrictions on the use of content. For all the RIAA's faults, it isn't the MPAA. The MPAA got the DMCA through onto the statute books, I can't even say for definite if the RIAA supported that law, and it's not something they've encouraged their members to make use of, in the same way as the MPAA built the DMCA protected DVD CSS standards.

Can we at least do ourselves some favours and, if we consider the RIAA the "enemy", presumably in reality for being the representative of music publishers we feel have foisted too much crap on the public and who have treated artists with less respect than they deserve, at least criticise them for what they are, rather than some stereotype of what they might become.

Why mention RIAA? (-2, Flamebait)

[Bonker]

I know, this story is not good enough to be posted just as hardware or audio news.

What's otherwise a fairly interesting piece of hardware has no relation to the RIAA, so it's given one to make it more interesting.

My interest is fair use?

[VValdo]

My interest is fair use, the ability to record my compositions and performance with studio grade equipment at a reasonable cost.

No, this isn't "fair use"-- fair use is an allowance for you to use someone ELSE'S copyrighted material for a limited purpose-- a review, an excerpt, until recently a sample, etc for certain purposes. What you're talking about is a legitimate use that gives you the SAME powers as the RIAA has for their own copyrighted works. The RIAA can claim that you might use this to infringe on their copyrights. You can argue that they may use the equipment they currently use to infringe on yours.

W

Re:My interest is fair use?

[hawkbug]

Right on man - I'm tired of people equating the RIAA with the government. There are plenty of other reasons to have equipment like this that don't involve infringing on copyrights held by the RIAA. It's just too bad that the average person who holds a copyright doesn't have as much say with Congress as the big guys do...

Actually I enjoy hearing about stuff like this...

[L0stb0Y]

I could care less if they mention the RIAA or not, I enjoy hearing about interesting new products, especially tech-type toys. So "this story is not good enough" is from your perspective...with your wonderful paradigms...so yes, it was interesting enough for me to read even without the RIAA reference.

(And a dig at RIAA just adds a little bounus humor!)

Why would they hate that, how about ...

[binaryDigit]

It's a very expensive product geared towards the professional. What the RIAA would REALLY hate would be an iPod with SPDIF inputs and the ability to connect to other iPods via firewire. You could then connect your cd player directly to your iPod and then transfer directly from iPod to iPod, all without leaving the digital domain and with no lossy compression.

Doesn't matter.

[supabeast!]

Wow, cheap recording equipment for the low-budget musician without a G4.

Unfortunately, it still won't produce the kind of album you get from a multimillion dollar staff of producers and engineers, and those are the guys who really make albums that sell.

Re:Actually I enjoy hearing about stuff like this.

[brer_rabbit]

(And a dig at RIAA just adds a little bounus humor!)

Humor? It's pure FUD and it doesn't add anything to the content. I don't mind a bit of opinionated journalism but this type of unsubstantiated comment is unwarranted.

RIAA? Gimme a break

[jokell82]

This device looks so good that the RIAA might try to make it illegal

This is one of the dumbest statements I've read all day. Why would the RIAA give a rats ass about this device? It offers nothing more than PC's can already do. On top of this, it is not a consumer device, so the chance of Joe Blow getting his hands on one (or even figuring out where to buy one) are slim.

This device is meant for location recording. It'll work great for those of us that record live audio, as we'll no longer have to a) carry around laptops or b) spend time converting from formats like DAT. Some people are a little weary of it, however, due to the fact that no one has heard the preamp it uses (but most assume that it's the same as the MP2).

Oh, and if you want to check out the official website and not a vendor's site, here it is.

been off planet?

[nyet]

I guess you, like 100s of other misguided /. devils advocates missed the VCR and DAT flaps, and the resulting Macrovision idiocy and DAT taxes.

Oh, and did we already mention the RIAA's attempts to legislate MANDATORY DRM into any device capable of recording sound digitally?