In one corner, we have the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies, who filed suit in the District of Columbia alleging that certain audio head units allow owners to rip CDs to hard drives mounted in the cars, allegedly violating the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. That act prohibits distributing digital audio devices that are primarily intended to copy protected material—in other words, dedicated CD-rippers. That's what the suit alleges these head units are.

On the other side, you have Ford and GM. Ford's potential problem is its Clarion-produced units that include the Jukebox feature, which can store up to 10GB of music from CDs for playing whenever you want. GM's Hard Drive Device is a similar product made by Denso.

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The AARC hopes to score a favorable court ruling saying that the primary purpose of these devices is to rip copyrighted music, and seeks unpaid royalties, damages equal to $2500 per unit sold, 50 percent of actual damages on top of that, and a prohibition on Ford or GM from selling the units in the future.

The two automakers have considerably more legal resources at their disposal than those private individuals who have infamously been levied huge fines for music piracy, so don't expect them to fork over any cash without a fight.

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