IP: REALNETWORKS DENIES ITS AUDIO STREAMS CAN BE RECORDED

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

RealNetworks has come under fire from the British Phonographic Industry,
which has issued a warning to broadcasters that music played on the Internet
using RealAudio software could be recorded using a widely available software
called Audio Rack.  RealNetworks has said its RealAudio software, which is
used by 85% of Internet broadcasters, blocks users from saving audio streams
as digital files.  "Because we are not downloading the whole file, the
content is not resident on the hard drive," says RealNetworks' manager of
consumer products.  But BPI consultants say they "stand by their assertion
that software in their possession will record RealAudio streams,
irrespective of whether the record facility is enabled."  Meanwhile, Virgin
FM's webmaster says RealAudio streams could be converted into .wav files but
only at the audio quality set by the Web server.  In Virgin's case, that's
28.8 Kbps -- "not the equivalent of burning a CD."  (TechWeb 7 May 98)