More Net Radio

Machinist: Tech Blog, Tech News, Technology Articles - Salon:

Many Web radio outfits feared closure as their legal fight against staggering new music royalty rates met failure this week. On Thursday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block the new rates, which are scheduled to go into effect Sunday. But as a result of public outcry -- which, in turn, sparked congressional outcry -- SoundExchange, the recording-industry group that collects royalties, has agreed not to immediately enforce the rates, pending negotiations with webcasters.

Radio Help

Time and options are running out for Internet Radio. Late this afternoon, the court DENIED the emergency stay sought on behalf of webcasters, millions of listeners and the artists and music they support.

UNLESS CONGRESS ACTS BY JULY 15th, the new ruinous royalty rates will be going into effect on Sunday, threatening the future of all internet radio.

We are appealing to the millions of Internet radio listeners out there, the webcasters they support and the artists and labels we treasure to rise up and make your voices heard again before this vibrant medium is silenced. Even if you have already called, we need you to call again.

The situation is grave, but that makes the message all the simpler and more serious.

PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES RIGHT AWAY and urge them to support the Internet Equality Act. Go to http://www.capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/alert_9738601.html to find the phone numbers of your Senators and Representative.

Radio Silence

A Look at Radio Silence: When Copyright Law Reform Goes Terribly Wrong:

This Tuesday, June 26, is a "day of silence" on which webcasters will protest the hike in Internet radio royalty rates, scheduled to become effective July 15, and to apply retroactively to January 1, 2006. Webcasters have also asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for an emergency stay of the rates ruling.

The webcasters have an excellent point: Instead of increasing rates enough to properly compensate rights holders and encourage creation, the new rates are so unreasonably high that they are threatening the survival of an entire industry. Unless the new regulations are successfully repealed, the new rates will result in true perpetual "radio silence" for thousands of online radio stations - a loss for rights holders, distributors and consumers alike.

LumpenRadio and the rest of internet radio will be back tomorrow. Visit www.savenetradio.org to help the fight to save internet radio.

Internet Radio Update

The “Internet Radio Equality Act, " H.R. 2060, has been co-sponsored by over 70 Representatives in just 2 short weeks!

Now internet radio needs your help again: Due to the amazing momentum of the Internet Radio Equality Act in the House of Representatives, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sam Brownback of Kansas have introduced a companion bill in the Senate, S. 1353, also named “The Internet Radio Equality Act.”

Please take a moment to contact your Senators to ask them to co-sponsor S. 1353, The Internet Radio Equality Act, introduced by Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sam Brownback of Kansas.

Radio Reprieve

Internet Radio has a 60 day reprieve. The copyright fee increases that were set to go into effect May 15, have been pushed back to July 15. This may give Congress enough time to pass H.R. 2060 which would reverse the disasterous decision by the Copyright Royalty Board to make Internet Radio pay royalties higher than any other broadcast medium. The bill was originally sponsored by Jay Inslee (D-WA). Co-sponsors of the bill now include:

Michael Arcuri (D-NY)	Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-MD)	Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Rick Boucher (D-VA)	Corrine Brown (D-FL)
Vern Buchanan (R-FL)	Michael Capuano (D-MA)
Steve Cohen (D-TN)	Joe Courtney (D-CT)
Barbara Cubin (R-WY)	Susan A. Davis (D-CA)
Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR)	Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)	Sam Farr (D-CA)
Bob Filner (D-CA)	Luis G. Fortuño (R-PR)
Virginia Foxx (R-NC)	Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL)	Brian Higgins (D-NY)
Baron Hill (D-IN)	Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
Mike Honda (D-CA)	Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
Dale E. Kildee (D-MI)	Mark S. Kirk (R-IL)
John Lewis (D-GA)	Donald A. Manzullo (R-IL)
Jim McDermott (D-WA)	Cathy McMorris (R-WA)
Mike Michaud (D-ME)	James P. Moran (D-VA)
Ron Paul (R-TX)	David E. Price (D-NC)
David G. Reichert (R-WA)	Tim Ryan (D-OH)
Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)	John M. Spratt, Jr. (D-SC)
Lee Terry (R-NE)	Lynn C. Woolsey (D-CA)

If your Congresscritter isn't on the list yet, please take a moment to contact them and urge them to Co-sponsor H.R. 2060.

Internet Radio Equality Act

Please take a moment to call, write, email or fax your congresscritter and ask them to co-sponsor the Internet Radio Equality Act, H.R. 2060.

This bill has just been introduced in Congress and will prevent the devastating royalty fee increases that will put thousands of Internet webcasters out of business on May 15th. Please call your Representative in Congress as soon as possible and urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 2060.

Your action will help keep LumpenRadio on the air – along with many, many other more artistically deserving stations as well.

Save Internet Radio

Please sign this petition to help keep internet radio safe and legal:

"As a fan of Internet radio, I was alarmed to learn that the Copyright Royalty Board has decided to raise music royalty rates by 300 to 1200 percent. For most webcasters the new royalties exceed their revenue and they simply will go bankrupt and stop webcasting.

The silencing of Internet radio would be a blow to listeners like me who enjoy the wide variety of choices only available via Internet radio. This will kill the great diversity of music that I hear over the Internet and all the independent artists who have a difficult time breaking through on other forms of radio.

I respectfully request that Congress look into this matter and take action to prevent it. Please understand that time is of the essence since the new royalty rates are retroactive to January 1, 2006 so they will cause immediate bankruptcies if they become effective for even one day. Please don’t let the music die"

Royalties and copyright law have yet to catch up with digital technologies and are a tangled mess by any standard. But this current situation with regard to internet radio is particularly heinous. Internet radio will be required to pay not only music publishers like BMI and ASCAP which support composers, but also performers -- something broadcast radio does not do. Recording artists receive their money from record sales and concert tickets. Radio play is simply one of the important ways they promote those sales. But now internet radio will be different from broadcast radio. It will have to pay a great deal more money than broadcast stations to play exactly the same music. Of course, internet radio doesn't just play exactly the same music. All those artists you never hear on broadcast stations will also no longer be able to be heard on internet stations either. Make some noise folks. This is something that shouldn't be allowed to happen.

LumpenRadio

Introducing LumpenRadio. Due to no popular demand at all.

On such a sad day, I find that music helps. We take requests. Just leave your comments below.