Well, following the news last week that the record labels are uneasy with new satellite radio technology which allows listeners to store content on a portable player and then listen to it on demand, one assumes they aint going to be too impressed with a new bit of software called iFill.
Developed by Griffin Technology, iFill lets people record a webcast radio stream, and transfer that to their iPod. Users can then edit the meta data that goes alongside the streams they capture, and as they listen can skip through the songs on a stream on demand. Griffin's sales blurb for the device explains: "With iFill, you can go to bed while charging your iPod, and wake up to an iPod full of new music, ready to go jogging with you, and without having to search through your record collection, browse the iTunes Store, or rip any CDs".
The fact iFill cuts out the need to browse the iTunes Store or rip tracks from CDs also means the technology cuts out the need to pay for music from the iTunes Store or buy CDs, which isn't going to be popular with the record labels. Of course you have always been able to capture streams coming into your PC, and in theory can convert them to MP3 and transfer them onto your iPod. But iFill makes that process much easier - which is why the record labels won't like it - the problem never being so much with technology that enables music piracy, but more with technology to really simplifies music piracy.
If it were to catch on, and at just $19.99 with a free trial option it may well do just that, then the record labels would be sure to object. And the fact that iFill comes with the small print "iFill does not support stealing music!" is unlikely to allay those objections.