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As you may have heard, the RIAA has found another way to piss off music lovers, this time by backing a PRA (Performance Rights Act) mandate to force cell phone makers to include FM radio chips in their mobile phones. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) initially showed little interest in getting involved in the matter, but is now speaking out against the mandate.
"The backroom scheme of the NAB and RIAA to have Congress mandate broadcast radios in portable devices, including mobile phones, is the height of absurdity," said a statement issued by CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. "Forced inclusion of an additional antenna, processor and radio receiver will compromise features that consumers truly desire, such as long battery life and light weight. Reducing product performance, mandating inclusion of features consumers don’t want, and replacing product innovation by companies like Amazon, Apple, Motorola and HP-Palm with government design mandates are not in our national interest."
Shapiro went on to say that not only are the NAB and RIAA failing to adapt to the digital marketplace (haven't we been saying this all along?), they're acting like "buggy-whip industries that refuse to innovate and seek to impose penalties on those that do."
Tell it like it is, Shapiro!
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