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Technology Stocks : Diamond Multimedia -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Duke of URL© who wrote (4437)	6/15/1999 11:31:00 PM
From: j g cordes	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4679

Court allows Internet digital music recorders SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A handheld device that can download high-quality digital music files from the Internet and play them at home does not violate a federal music piracy law, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 3-0 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a defeat for the recording industry, which tried to stop distribution of the Rio portable MP3 player. But after losing the first round in court last year, the industry has tried to adjust to the new technology and is developing its own version of the device. The Rio, which sells for $119, plugs into a computer and takes only minutes to transfers MP3 files, using software that compresses and stores digital versions of CD recordings. Users can download near-CD-quality music from any one of the many MP3 Internet sites into personal computers for replay or, with widely available software, transfer it to another computer. The Recording Industry Association of America, representing major record companies, contended the Rio was made for the illegal pirating of copyright music and could drain away billions of dollars in royalties from artists and publishers. U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins of Los Angeles denied an injunction last fall that would have prohibited distribution by the manufacturer, Diamond Multimedia Systems. The appeals court not only upheld Collins but also found that the Rio was not covered by the anti-piracy law invoked by the association. Andrew P. Bridges, a lawyer for San Jose-based Diamond Multimedia, said the ruling should end the lawsuit. The Recording Industry Association of America is reviewing the ruling and hasn't decided whether to appeal further, said spokeswoman Alexandra Walsh. BREAKING NEWS DIGESTS