In a major blow to the recording industry, a judge in California has ruled
that the Rio player, a portable device for playing MP3 music files downloaded
from the Net, is not a digital audio recording device.
MP3 could revolutionise the music business
(see 鈥淭op of the pops鈥�, New 杏吧原创, 19 June, p 32),
with the Rio player doing for the format what
Sony鈥檚 Walkman did for cassette tapes. The Recording Industry Association of
America, which fears a loss in revenue from bootlegged MP3 tracks, sued Diamond
Multimedia of San Jose, Rio鈥檚 manufacturer, claiming royalties on each device
sold. The judge鈥檚 ruling throws out that claim.