Save Internet Radio

[The Friar]

Hey Gang,

Not sure how many of you listen to internet radio, but I do. I have a LIVE365 membership and use it all the time. I just heard over one of the stations I listen to there that congress is trying make it more and more difficult for internet radio to exist. For me it is truly all I have. I live in a small town where conventional radio stations are few and far between. When you do get a station it may not be the kind of music you like. With internt radio there are thousands to choose from and people like myself can zero in on a specific style. Here is what I have read...

"The future of Internet radio is in immediate danger. The Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC has more than tripled the royalty rates for webcasters and left unchanged they will kill Internet radio. These exorbitant rates go into effect on May 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!). Without Congressional action the majority of webcasters will go bankrupt and silent on this date. We need your help. Please take a moment to send a letter to your member of Congress to keep Net radio from being silenced."

So I am asking you to go to this website...

www.savenetradio.org

Here you can add your name to a letter and have it sent to your congressmen/women and ask them to stop what they are doing and let internet radio to continue as is.

Thanks,

The ;D Friar

[The Friar]

Hey Gang,

Just to report back to you on what is happening regarding internet radio. I received an email today that stated...

Thank you for your support of the SaveNetRadio campaign. As you know, the future of internet radio is in serious jeopardy. Your letter to your Congressional representatives has led Congress to take action, and a bill that could save Net radio has been introduced.

The “Internet Radio Equality Act ", H.R. 2060, is being considered by Congress right now, and we ask that you take a moment to call your Congressperson to ask them to co-sponsor this legislation.

To find the phone number for your Congressional representative, visit capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/home/ and enter your zip code.

Your opinion matters to your representatives, and it matters to us. Without your support this bill could not have been introduced and without your continued support it cannot be passed.

Visit SaveNetRadio.org to continue following the fight to Save Internet Radio.

I wrote an email to my congresspersons and senator and received an encouraging return email from Senator Coleman (R-MN). I also called Washington today and spoke with someone in my congressman's office asking him to support H.R. 2060.

Help save internet radio! Visit the website today and make your voice heard! Video killed the radio star, and our government is trying to kill the internet star!

www.savenetradio.org

The ;D Friar

[The Friar]

Hey Gang,

Just to keep you up to date on what's going on. The cry of the people has been heard! Congress was flooded with over 400,000 emails asking it to take action against the outrageous fees being asked to be paid by independent internet music streamers that can be found on the net at such places like Live365. Here is proof that your voice makes a difference, if only you will speak. A report follows...

Make your voice heard. Visit www.savenetradio.org

The ;D Friar



Congress to rescue the Internet radio star

By Jeff Cox, CNNMoney.com contributing writer -- CNNMoney.com , April 30, 2007 Monday 12:57 PM EST

Internet radio broadcasts, jeopardized by a royalty payment ruling earlier this year, would get a reprieve under bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress.

The Internet Radio Equality Act would roll back dramatic rate increases handed down earlier this year by the Copyright Royalty Board and instead charge royalty payments for Web-based radio broadcasting, or streaming, in line with those paid by satellite radio.

Under the rules issued by the CRB, an agency charged by Congress with overseeing royalty disputes, streamers would be charged .08 cents a song retroactively to 2006 - a rate that would increase to 0.19 cents a song in 2010. For public broadcasters, the CRB set fees at a flat $500 a month, but only for a set level of listening hours per month that many station owners said they would easily exceed and thus have to pay much higher fees.

Internet streamers said the increases amounted to 30 to 300 percent increases over what they are paying now.

The new legislation, proposed by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) would instead charge streamers a flat fee of 7.5 percent of their revenue through 2010. A companion piece is expected to be introduced in the Senate this week.

Advocates championed the bill as more in line with reality and a proper response to the public outcry from critics who said the ruling could kill Internet radio streaming. Inslee spokeswoman Christine Hanson said their office alone received about 1,000 complaints about the CRB fees and members of Congress had received more than 400,000 e-mails demanding the fees be changed, so the sponsors are hoping quick action can be taken on the legislation

"You can't put an economic chokehold on this emerging form of democracy," Inslee said in a statement. "There has to be a business model that allows creative Webcasters to thrive, and the existing rule removes all the oxygen from this space."

Radio stations large and small as well as Internet-only broadcasters who have gotten into the streaming business were united in their opposition to the new royalty fees and had been preparing a court challenge.

An NPR official praised the Internet Radio Equality Act. Congress "has recognized that public radio has a very different mission from commercial media and cannot pay commercial-level royalty rates," said NPR spokeswoman Andi Sporkin. "This bill will provide a long-term resolution that is fair for all sides."

The CRB rejected an appeal brought by broadcasters as well as National Public Radio and others who sought to delay the May 15 deadline for the introduction of the new fees.

Tim Westergren, president and CEO of popular Internet radio station Pandora, attended a briefing Monday in Washington, D.C., on the legislation and said there was only a glimmer of hope that the new fees would be stayed pending the outcome of the legislation. A court order would be needed to stay the increases.

"Nobody has any idea, but the presumption is it will go into effect on or before the 15th," Westergren said. "On that day, on paper just about every Webcaster becomes officially bankrupt because they'll owe way more money than they have because the fees are retroactive."

Savings would vary among stations due to differing royalty structures. Stations now pay .07 cents a performance for AM or FM signals that simultaneously air online, and 0.14 cents a performance for Internet-only broadcasts. Pandora, for instance, would pay less under the structure set up under the legislation than it does now, Westergren said.

SoundExchange, a performance rights organizations that collects royalty payments for entertainers, supports the rate structure proposed by the royalty board. In a statement on its Web site, the company said the the proposed legislation would result in a windfall of $50 million to large Webcasters like Clear Channel, Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo! while depriving artists of payments to which they are entitled.