TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Free for the Listening -- and Legal

Free for the Listening -- and Legal

Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com)
Tue, 2 Nov 2004 00:28:00 -0500

By Hiawatha Bray

The Internet remains as tuneful as ever, record-company lawsuits
notwithstanding. Any kind of music you fancy is free for the
listening, and you don't even have to steal it. With thousands of
legitimate music streams online, a good broadband connection is all
you need.

Of course, we humans can only listen to one channel at a time. Our
computers aren't so limited. With the right software, you can tune in
to two, five, or a dozen Internet audio streams, record them all,
then listen at leisure.

It's not altogether good news for the recording industry, already
busy trying to stamp out the music file-swappers. But there's not
much they can do about it. It's perfectly legal to record a TV show
for personal use, or to tape a favorite AM radio talk show. The same
principle applies to Internet audio streams. As long as you don't
pass out copies to others, you're on the right side of the law.

So all you need is software that will capture the incoming music and
save it to your hard drive. You can download a number of these
programs, ranging from the primitive to the polished.

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/11/01/free_for_the_listening____and_legal/

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