XM Satellite Radio is taking action against the recent lawsuit and legislation led by the RIAA taking on its newest recordable devices, which supposedly can record specific songs from the satcaster's programming. XM claims that the RIAA and the government are misinformed about what the receivers can and cannot do and has released a fact sheet online outlining the specific capabilities of the Pioneer Inno and the Samsung Helix.

XM has filed for a motion of dismissal of the labels' lawsuit, saying that the Audio Home Recording Act protects the Inno and Helix from the copyright infringement issues raised by the RIAA.

In the fact sheet (available here from Orbitcast.com in PDF format), XM notes that the devices cannot record specific songs that can then be transferred off the device onto a computer or CD. The satcaster points out that the devices work just like a cassette recording of a traditional radio broadcast. The songs saved would disappear from the player if a subscription ends. As for worries that the devices would allow users to record high-quality copies of songs, XM points out that "songs...may contain DJ voices and overlapping beginnings and ends of adjacent songs...or transmission noise."

Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) has been pushing for legislation, connected to the "audio flag" bill, to prevent satellite radio receivers from being able to record at all. D.C. publication Roll Call suggests that Frist is heavily behind the legislation due to his home state connections with the Country music business, while Orbitcast.com notes an even closer connection: RIAA Chief Mitch Bainwol once worked for Frist as his Chief Of Staff.