The increasing popular MP3 format has had a bit of a blow.

A music industry group has prevailed in the first round of its fight to keep a new portable digital-music player of store shelves in the USA and, thus, out of the hands of consumers.

A California judge Friday granted the Recording Industry Association of America a 10-day restraining order preventing the sale or distribution of Diamond Multimedia's Rio, a Walkman-like device that allows users to download songs on their computers and listen to them on the portable machine.

Much like what Audible did for RealAudio, this product [and a whole load more which are waiting in the wings] is going to do for MP3 tracks.

The ruling "is a good indication our case is strong," said Hillary Rosen, president and CEO of the RIAA, on Friday. She added that talks between the music and electronics industry are, in the RIAA's view, the best way to approach burgeoning technology such as MP3s.

Michael Robertson, president of the popular "MP3.com" website, said that even if an injunction against the Rio is granted, that ruling would be only a "speed bump" along the road of a coming downloadable music revolution.

"This is just a little tiny battle in the much bigger war about Internet music, and how it's going to develop,  who's leading the charge, and if there's going to be freedom to develop music ... outside of today's channels,"  Robertson said.

http://www.mp3.com/