The terms of the Music Owners’ Listening Rights Act would give
companies the right to store a library of CDs on servers in MP3
format and anyone who can prove they own a particular CD in that
library can download tracks from it at will.
This is the business model for which MP3.com was successfully
sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). A
court recently found that in launching this service, the company
wilfully infringed the copyright of the record labels, entitling
the RIAA's labels to damages of $25,000 per infringed CD.
In supporting the bill, some congressmen have stated their
support for this technology, saying it should be encouraged.
MP3.com has been circulating proposed legislation for some time,
although this law is unlikely to reach the voting stage for some
time. Not surprisingly, it has been met with strong opposition from
the RIAA.
