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Slappie

Bye bye internet radio

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So you like listening to music streaming from the internet at home or the office? You can kiss it bye bye come May 15th. Our wonderfull Government has pretty much killed yet another great idea for the sake of money.

It's a sad day for the US. They've once again shot themselves in the foot for the betterment of big business.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6562823.stm

Sites like Pandora.com and other "free" internet radio sites are going to go under and close down.

email I received from Pandora-
Quote


Hi, it's Tim from Pandora,

I'm writing today to ask for your help. The survival of Pandora and all of Internet radio is in jeopardy because of a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. The new royalty rates are irrationally high, more than four times what satellite radio pays and broadcast radio doesn't pay these at all. Left unchanged, these new royalties will kill every Internet radio site, including Pandora.

In response to these new and unfair fees, we have formed the SaveNetRadio Coalition, a group that includes listeners, artists, labels and webcasters. I hope that you will consider joining us.

Please sign our petition urging your Congressional representative to act to save Internet radio: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541

Please feel free to forward this link/email to your friends - the more petitioners we can get, the better.

Understand that we are fully supportive of paying royalties to the artists whose music we play, and have done so since our inception. As a former touring musician myself, I'm no stranger to the challenges facing working musicians. The issue we have with the recent ruling is that it puts the cost of streaming far out of the range of ANY webcaster's business potential.

I hope you'll take just a few minutes to sign our petition - it WILL make a difference. As a young industry, we do not have the lobbying power of the RIAA. You, our listeners, are by far our biggest and most influential allies.

As always, and now more than ever, thank you for your support.

-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)



I posted this in the Bonfire because it's got the most level headed people. This wasn't posted to incite drama or even a debate about RIAA or any other company or organization involved with extortion.

So Mods move if you wish, but it'll just get buried under all the crap that is SC. At least here some people who care can click the link and send a letter to a Congressman or Senator explaining this new ruling is going to basically kill the internet radio industry. So those of us who use the internet at work to listen will be back to stealing music via Torrents, P2P and other ways just to listen to music.



"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them."

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You can thank RIAA for this, the scumbags.

It's a very good strategy (force royalty compliance, then jack the rates - they can't lose and web radio can't win).

Limit the choices that consumers have to the ones that they own or otherwise totally control.

Very clever.

Where's the Sherman Act when you need it?

mh

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"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

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Will this affect talk radio formatts?

Only if they play music inbetween commercial breaks.



"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them."

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