Anyone have any comments on how this may or may not affect EDIG?
Looks like Rio is going to comply with the SDMI in any case.
Tuesday June 15, 6:37 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Diamond Multimedia Wins Landmark Appellate Ruling in RIAA Lawsuit
Court Rules That the Rio Portable Digital Audio Player Does Not Fall Under the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992
PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 15, 1999-- Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc., (Nasdaq:DIMD - news), a leader in PC multimedia and Internet connectivity, and its wholly owned subsidiary, RioPort, Inc., today announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that the Rio portable music player does not qualify as a ''digital audio recording device'' and therefore is not subject to the restrictions of the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 (AHRA).
The court stated that, ''The Rio's operation is entirely consistent with the Act's main purpose -- the facilitation of personal use.'' The court recognized that the Rio merely makes copies in order to render portable those files that already reside on a user's hard drive. ''Because the Rio cannot make copies from transmissions or from digital music media such as CDs and tapes, but instead can make copies only from a computer hard drive, it is not a digital audio recording device.''
''We are thrilled with the ruling,'' said Andrew Bridges, attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati representing Diamond Multimedia. ''This suit was brought on by the RIAA as a violation of the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA), which imposes technology restrictions and royalty requirements on certain types of consumer audio recording devices. Diamond Multimedia's Rio, which is incapable of independent recording or serial copying, simply is not covered by the Act. Diamond Multimedia has argued this point from the beginning in this case.''
''The ruling opens a host of new opportunities for us,'' said David Watkins, president of RioPort, Inc., Diamond Multimedia's Internet music subsidiary. ''We have always believed that the Rio line of devices operated well within the law. The Rio has always been marketed as a playback-only device for the thousands of legitimate music and audio tracks on the Internet.''
Watkins added, ''We do, however, continue to share the RIAA's concerns about piracy and protecting the rights of content owners. While the Rio device has become a world-renowned product, we have expanded our digital audio initiative beyond the hardware players with the deployment of RioPort.com, a leading resource for consumers who want access to working, legitimate digital music and audio content on the Internet.''
''The MP3 format will remain a popular format for distributing and listening to music for both content providers and consumers,'' added Watkins, ''But as larger content providers begin to distribute digital audio content, security becomes a critical component of delivery that we are addressing through our strategic relationship with InterTrust and our participation in the RIAA's Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI).''
These relationships are paving the way for a new generation of portable devices and increase the opportunity for new digital audio distribution models based on the Internet's worldwide infrastructure. In addition, the new line of Rio devices, expected to ship later this year, will be among the first widely available devices to support the playback of secure content.
RioPort, Inc.'s overall strategy encompassing content aggregation, software, and hardware devices will be more fully unveiled on June 23, 1999 in Los Angeles. Attendance to this event is by invitation only.
About RioPort, Inc.
RioPort, Inc. is redefining digital audio by developing an integrated platform for acquiring, managing and experiencing music and spoken word programming from the Internet. RioPort delivers an extensive selection of digital music and spoken word content through its RioPort.com digital audio gateway, full content management with its Rio Manager software and cutting-edge playback solutions with its Rio brand playback devices.
Company headquarters are in San Jose, Calif., where its business development, engineering and marketing teams are located. The artist relations, content aggregation and online creative team are based in Los Angeles. RioPort's web site address is at www.rioport.com.
About Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is driving the interactive multimedia market by providing advanced solutions for home, business and professional desktop computer users, enabling them to create, access and experience compelling new media content from their desktops and through the Internet.
Diamond accelerates multimedia from the Internet to the user with products that include the Stealth and Viper® series of media accelerators, the Monster series of entertainment 3D and sound accelerators, the Fire series of professional 3D accelerators, the Micronics series of system boards, the Supra® series of modems, and the HomeFree line of home networking products. Diamond's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol DIMD, and its web site address is www.diamondmm.com. |
