Internet Radio Under Attack AGAIN

and may spell the end of hope, and therefore doom for free internet radio.

Please do what you can to save it. Those of us in rural areas have a choice of listening to old Britney Spears or an internet radio station.

Thanks.

Please read the info at this link:

http://www.radioparadise.com/

on our ability to access information freely; whether through song or otherwise.

Kicking, I hadn't heard about this at all. This is really important-I listen to internet radio almost exclusively; I could never go back to canned commercial crap and this deal will put this out of commision.
But, even more critical, it represents a kind of top down control that
is antithetical to what makes the internet fasinating.

that was provided on that page:

http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/030207/index.shtml

I don't have time right now to dig any deeper, but I'm curious how this works across the board.

Is there music that could be played that would not be subject to these rates? (For example, there are songs that you can download for free and don't have to go to iTunes or other commercial sites and pay) Would simultaneous streams for commercial stations be subject to these constraints? For example, I listen to a jazz station online from San Diego City College. Will they be force to either pony up these rates or drop their internet stream?

Will broadcast channels be subject to these rates as well?

is that any music played over the internet would be subject to the new rates. I could be wrong. I listen to a college radio internet station also, and hope that they may have been spared, but I doubt it.

this is under attack. Do you feel comfortable with this?

you will pay attention to this.

It's one shot fired against freedom, and towards corporate control.

Maybe many don't care if they have to pay for streaming music from around the world, but I do.

There is no other reason for it than greed.

The RIAA appears to be a US-only organisation.

One thing on the first link you gave - they say FM radio stations don't pay any royalties in the USA. Is that right? It seems surprising - they pay royalties here in the UK (and after all, it's a lot more practical to make them pay than internet radio - they're large commercial concerns that are easy to keep track of).

it won't affect your listening habits within a year or two?

It will.

Apparently, this bill was introduced last year, but died in committee.
Now, this bill called "Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act" (PERFORM),get it, is being reintroduced by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) actually introduced a bill going against the provisions in PERFORM. Dems should NOT be on the wrong side of this issue. It's of course backed by the RIAA and has a good chance of passing.

Basically, the rates internet radio would have to pay would make the practice unprofitable. However, I don't believe this is going to shut dowm the internet radio completely, even if internet stations don't come to some agreement independently with the RIAA. It will hurt American broadcasters and maybe those from countries that have some agreement with the U.S. to follow it's edicts, but there's always someone somewhere that doesn't give a shit or isn't beholden to the U.S.-I'm thinking Russia-that may put this on hold, but it can't suppress it completely.

more info:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070112-8609.html

that can't or won't be played on US radio.

What does that say to the unbrainwashed?

Boy, corporations will do ANYTHING not to let us little folk have some free fun, won't they?

(We're avid listeners of Radio Free Colorado, btw. It's so much better than the local crapola).

I remember going through this around 2000.

Everything is about money with these rat bastards. There is no good of the people. Not health, not culture. Nothing. Just asphalt, concrete, and growth.

To be honest, I'm shocked it lasted this long. Ten long years of wonderful radio.

Well, if the last time meant anything, there will be an overwhelming flood to stop this crap.

And I would bet that like last time, ktru radio will be foremost in the fight. Stay tuned and watch their website.

basically if it's not the crap they're forcing us to listen to on the airwaves, they don't want us to hear ANYTHING.
Also, this will hurt artists as well. There are plenty of artists who will try to get things played on internet radio stations when they aren't mainstream enough to get on the airwaves.

Several years ago, the royalty issue for small internet broadcasters were set that allowed many of the small operators to continue and open up the medium for others. This is a shot over the bow for the next step of internet radio as it leaps from your computer onto your cellphone, IPOD and other wireless devices. There's new streaming technology that will enable internet stations that are limited to the number of people who can tune in to have unlimited bandwidth and reach thousands...and that's where the money will begin to roll...or so is the theory.

There's also a major bluff factor here as, with file sharing, Internet radio has gotten larger than what the RIAA can deal with. With thousands of stations out there, they'd legally bleed themselves dry attempting to go after every operation...and then many Internet stations have already hedged on them by delivering their audio from servers abroad where the RIAA has no jurisdiction.

Yes, the RIAA is meddling with Internet radio, but they're just one of several groups that are trying to line up for what could possibly be the ultimate answer to digital radio as satallite and commercial radio drown in their own largess and debt.