{"id":38883,"date":"2023-03-28T14:40:44","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T18:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=38883"},"modified":"2023-03-28T14:40:44","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T18:40:44","slug":"the-riaa-v-steve-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/28\/the-riaa-v-steve-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"The RIAA v. Steve Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Kafasis<\/a> (Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

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Though the precedent of time shifting<\/a> existed for television, space shifting<\/a> was still an emerging idea. The acronym for the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA, was something of a new four-letter word due to their hostility toward new ideas. […] This had an impact on our marketing for the first version of Audio Hijack<\/a>. Rather than focusing on the app’s recording functionality, we highlighted use cases like adding an equalizer to movies. We knew recording was useful, but the app’s ability to apply audio effects anywhere on the Mac carried much less legal peril.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

We never heard a word from the RIAA, nor their lawyers. As time passed without any trouble, we eventually came to assume that they recognized our tool’s many legitimate fair uses. We continued development of Audio Hijack, leaning in to its audio recording abilities. That focus led to it being a premier solution for podcasters, both then and now.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, however, we heard a chilling story. It comes from the Podfather himself, Adam Curry, who was instrumental in helping podcasts take off in the mid-2000s.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Adam Curry<\/a>:<\/p>\n

And in that very meeting, Steve asked: “How do you do your recording?”. We didn’t really have any tools to record, there was not much going on at the time. But the Mac had an application called Audio Hijack Pro, and it was great because we could create audio chains with compressors, and replicate a bit of studio work. Eddie Cue said: “The RIAA wants us to disable Audio Hijack Pro, because with it you could record any sound off of your Mac, any song, anything.” Steve then turned to me and said: “Do you need this to create these podcasts?”. I said: “Currently, yes!”. So Steve Jobs told them to get lost, and I thought: “Hey man, thanks, Steve’s on my side. That’s cool.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Adam Curry<\/a>:<\/p>\n

His actual words were “fuck them”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

I mean, this is great, but as Kafasis says it’s terrifying that it could have gone differently were it not for the whims of one man. And Jobs’ decision was pragmatic<\/a>, not principled. Apple under his watch later developed the iPhone and the Mac App Store, neither of which allowed software like this. It then made such utilities much harder to install with the M1 Macs. We’re celebrating a small victory, but the larger story is one of a loss.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n