savenetradio.org

Χθες όλοι οι ιντερνετικοί ραδιοσταθμοί σίγησαν. Γιατί;

Day of Silence

Internet broadcasters have organized a nationwide coalition (savenetradio.org) to oppose the rate hike and in support of the Internet Radio Equality Act. Starting at 12 a.m. on June 26, many of them will join in a "Day of Silence" — either shutting off their audio streams entirely, or replacing their streams with static, ocean sounds or other ambience, interspersed with brief public service announcements — to dramatize the consequences of the impending rate hike.Rhapsody, Live365, MTV, Pandora, and Digitally Imported were among the participants in the Day of Silence. Last.FM did not participate, saying that they did not want to punish their listeners for the station's problems.

2007 Copyright Royalty Changes

On March 2, 2007, the United States Copyright Royalty Board approved a rate increase in the royalties payable to performers of recorded works broadcast on the internet. The rates include a minimum fee of $500 (U.S.) per year, per channel, with escalating fees for each song played. The decision is retroactive, so for 2006 the applicable fee would be $0.0008 per performance. Since a performance is defined as streaming one song to one listener, a webcaster with 10,000 listeners would pay 10,000 times the going rate for every streamed song. The fee increases 30 percent per year, which amounts to $0.0019 cents per song by 2010."^[4] If enforced, this decision will undermine the business models of many Internet radio stations.^[5] These rules are scheduled to go into effect on July 15, 2007, but apply retroactively to January 1, 2006.

According to a report released in March 2007, under the newly proposed rates, annual fees for all station owners are projected to reach $2.3 billion by 2008. This figure is more than four times that for terrestrial radio broadcasters who, due to terms set forth in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, are exempt from the additional royalties imposed on digital broadcasting outlets, which compensate the performers of recorded works. Both terrestrial radio and Internet/digital radio broadcasters are responsible for royalties collected by performance rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) on behalf of the composers of recorded works.

Many performers of recorded works have voiced their opposition to the Copyright Royalty Board's rate increases, fearing that the rate increases would cripple the internet broadcasters that have given them valuable exposure. Others have proposed moving Internet broadcasts to foreign jurisdictions where US royalties do not apply. "For example, Mercora, a service that allows individuals to launch their own webcasts, has established a Canadian site that falls outside U.S. regulatory and royalty rules."^[4][6] Business leaders fear that the royalty change would simply move the majority of the industry to Canada where royalty rates are equivalent to radio.

On 26 April 2007, the Internet Radio Equality Act (HR 2060) was proposed to reverse the CRB's decision.^[7] This bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressmen Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Donald Manzullo (R-IL). Its Senate counterpart was introduced on 10 May 2007 by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kansas). As of June 25 the legislation has over 100 Congressional co-sponsors. -[από wikipedia]

• more on savenetradio.org

• or using "savenetradio" keyword on youtube, google, etc

• ή στα ελληνικά στο metablogging.gr και σε παλιότερο post του

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όπως ανέφερε και ο oneiros :

" Δεν αφορά μόνο τους αμερικάνους ακροατές του διαδικτυακού ραδιοφώνου, ούτε καν μόνο το διαδικτυακό ραδιόφωνο "