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Court declines to postpone Internet radio royalty hike

arstechnica.com — A federal court closed the door on legal attempts to delay the implementation of the new, heavily-criticized Internet radio royalty scheme. Webcasters' hopes now lie exclusively with Congress.

Bury

dweeb73 360 days ago, made popular 360 days ago

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dweeb73, on 10/11/2007, -1/+25those greedy bastards...don't take my internet radio away!
- lewhich, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6I bet right now some idiot is trying to figure out how to charge us for Air.
  To think of it, what we have in the US is monopolist, pro-big boys society not a capitalist one
  - miketrin, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6They charge us for water, it wouldn't surprise me if we end up paying an air tax
  - KloroFormd, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4It'd give us someone to sue for giving us dirty air and causing problems like asthma. I'm sure some people would be all for it.
sbader, on 10/11/2007, -1/+45Call your Congressional representatives in the Senate and ask them to force immediate action on the Internet Radio Equality Act and bring the bill to a vote. It is critical that their phones begin ringing off the hook starting early in the morning. If it's busy, please try again later.
- untzboy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7We ain't gonna gonna take it! NO! We aint gonna take it! We ai...... wait, is that allowed?
  - ProvidenceCrow, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5Dear Untzboy: As a representative for the recording industry and Twisted Sister you are being fined 20,000,000. The first 10,000,000 is for unauthorized usage of lyrics written by Dee Sneider and now owned by us. The second 10,000,000 is for copyright infringement because you have misquoted said lyrics. If you could make the check out to Cash we would greatly appreciate it.
    - Charron, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1You represent Johnny Cash too?
- DubbedOver, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12http://www3.capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/alert_9738601.html
  
  Above is a link where you can punch in your zip code and get all the information you need to call.
  
  CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES RIGHT AWAY and urge them to support the Internet Equality Act. If they've already co-sponsored, thank them and ask them to fight to bring it to the floor for an immediate vote.
- MarkOfTheDead, on 10/11/2007, -6/+1you mean their iPhones
  - mtheoryx83, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Enough already. Good freakin lord.
- FizixMan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Is there any way for foreigners (I'm Canadian) to contact Congressional representatives? Even if it's an internal American issue, it will have global repercussions (eliminating stations we listen to, setting precedents for other countries to follow suit) .
  - mtheoryx83, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Not that I can think of. I mean, realistically, the deluge of phone calls should be enough to get something done (compared to silence); however, they have every right to totally ignore the request.
    
    I, for one, encourage you to help, if you can. Thank you in advance for your global thinking.
- Memitim, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Yay, our hope now lies with Congress, the place where hope goes to die.
PjsPjs, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17The silence will be deafening.
This is clearly an attempt to kill off any form of competition before the laws are changed.
When the laws are changed, only the big labels will be left, and only they will have the power to implement web based music delivery.
- Gilart80, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I agree with this. I don't see Webcast radio dieing. I see it being moved to the hands of the major labels without them having to do any buyouts. I will miss my Launchcast.
untzboy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5If anyone takes my pandora away, all I can see is a white hot flash of fury. Success for the RIAA= MASSIVE MUSIC REVOLT. I have a plan, and it's better than calling. boycot music if we dont win. Apple will spaz because they wont get iPod sales, as will lots of people, and they will have no choice but to loosen the belt. As for me, im gonna go call Bachman, Klobucahr, and Coleman. Repeatedly. FOR TIM!
- sbader, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Unfortunately i don't think Pandora and other internet radio has a big enough user base to even dent itunes... I already called McCain and Kyl, freaking mccain just had a voicemail thing so i just left a message. I'll be a sobbing mess if i loose my Pandora. Then I'll go buy a pirate hat.
  - untzboy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Rhapsody has a freaking giant base for IR, but remember, you've got a friend in Jimbo
    - subterfu9e, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I live in Malaysia and pandora has already been taken away from me :S I'll miss the late nights I spent studying whilst discovering new music.
volanin, on 10/11/2007, -0/+18http://savenetradio.org
kirilnaldjiev, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1hm, not like
spunkmyer, on 10/11/2007, -0/+15Great .. corporate greed at it's best ladies and gentlemen.
Make sure you tell your kids about the day we used to listen to free Internet radio and the day it died.
t3hCyborg, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17It's all these old fat bastards that are being lobbied to hell by the record industry. They don't know the first thing about the Internet, technology or anything, they just eat up all the ***** that the big-wigs tell them and they do as they're told. Such morons running our government.
bjs3171, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8WOW. so they'd rather just lose the royalties completely when they all go out of business than just keep the rates lower. great business plan.
- civperc, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7I know, it's stupid, but that's the kind of people we're up against. Their greed will cause their eventual downfall.
- DubbedOver, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4It's almost like a game of chicken, the RIAA obviously thinks that these radio stations can pay the fees associated with running them. If they can't and enough start dropping out maybe the price will go down - but most likely their lawyers have run the numbers and figured out that it's possible for them to pay these prices.
  
  The RIAA will possibly destroy these companies, in an attempt to make more money from them.
  
  I wish there was a way to see how many people have called and what they said (and what kind of responses to expect from the calls).
ExecRecruiter, on 10/11/2007, -7/+0Music as we know is changing all the time. I always like to stay ahead of the curve. Check out lala.com. I don't use internet radio anymore. For those of you who like internet radio, try tuning into actual radio stations via the internet. A site I really like is: http://www.billsparks.org/

RIAA Sucks.
civperc, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Fkn a...
combustion8, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2at least I still have p2p... just sucks cus I enjoy(ed) hearing new stuff the radio just wont play... nothing like hearing the same 10 songs over and over again all day long.
NeilM, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7I don't want to seem like a pessimist... but...We're *****.
- BobsYourUncle, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Pessimism is the only response. It's becoming evident that there's really nothing to stop them from ***** us over in every possible way.
MindTrigger, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Yet another way our government is making life suck ass. The stupid old bastards running this country don't know the first thing about these technologies and how they are used. These retards sit on high, making decisions about ***** they can't even begin to fathom. Case In Point: US Foreign Policy.

I'm sick and tired of all these corrupt, greedy bastards cashing in on every freaking thing that comes up. They get richer, and the rest of us have to spend more to get less in return. What we need is about a half a million people firing up Shoutcast stations in protest.
- fack0, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Unless you've already done something about it, like call your Representative then shut up. I hate people like you who sit around crying all day about something sucking and not doing a damn thing about it. I've already called and although it may only be one call, at least I'm trying to do something instead of bitching all day.
  - MindTrigger, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3You are a ***** moron. You have no clue what I do or have done. Now, why don't you take that USB powered crystal ball that you use to look into people's minds over the internet, and shove it up your loose cornhole. Have a nice day.
    - fack0, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1"Unless you've already done something about it, ...then" If you have already done something then the rest doesn't apply to you. The key word here is "unless"
k1down, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7I wonder if anyone has pointed out that office workers in general will more than likely take a huge productivity cut. When etherbeat was rocking, I was rocking out product. Without my internet radio, I will take more smoke breaks, be less prone to be friendly with customers, have nothing to look forward to, and it will be that much harder to sit in front of my screen 8 hours a day 5 days a week.

Somehow, someway, our society has finally figured out how to ***** its own *****... not that I'm an *****... but you get my drift.

I think internet radio stations should flood Usenet with their whole music libraries. ***** a boycott. I haven't bought any major label ***** in 10 years anyways.

Go ***** yourself RIAA
i208khonsu, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3This is either going to completely kill American music culture as we know it, or inspire a renaissance of original music creators to steam their own music in order to bypass these rates.

Anticipate stories in the near future with musicians forming partnerships with music stations in an effort to keep distributing their music through channels who can't afford their rates. Soon after expect loop holes to be exploited into a new form of Payola that we can bitch at the RIAA for.
theNazz, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1ISPs and the government are already watching the lines for a surge in piracy... they will be collecting names and numbers for future bill/fine collections.

Sure, some people will challenge them and win. Most will roll over and pay the fines because they don't know any better.
- khfn, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1The begining of Pirates of the Caribean 3 really denotes what the future holds to me.
MattB123, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Maybe online radio stations should just all move their domains off shore. Like online gambling places did.
wiremonkeymommy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4called my congresspeople, and Nancy Pelosi (somafm.com is in her district), and will keep calling, long after the speakers go silent!!
NikoKun, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2How come the evil horrible stuff like (for corp gain over civilians) this makes it through and gets passed... while the good ideas good laws and good stuff barely makes it though the first level hardly ever... -_-
MindTrigger, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2It makes me want to puke up my internal organs when I think about all the ways the government is in my ***** grill these days. Internet RADIO stations?? Of all the things our government needs to be focused on, how does this ***** even make the list???????? Answer: Corruption and greed, fueled by self-serving private corporations and organizations. We still don't have a solution for Social Security. We still don't have a solution for Health Care. We still don't have a solution for the War in Iraq. We still have underfunded schools all over the country. The list of actual important problems is huge.

How can you not think about the 2008 elections and realize it's all just a dog and pony show? These people we elect never change a damn thing. All they do is find new ways to make money for themselves and their friends/family. They spend most of their time in office making sure they are set for life after their public service is completed. How long has it been now since any major issue has been fixed?
logomancer, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1"Oh cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee." -Bender
sbader, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1For anyone in Arizona, Senator Kyl and Senator McCain have not yet taken a stance on this issue. Please keep calling. Senator Kyl's office sounded busier than the first time I called him.
sembetu, on 10/11/2007, -4/+4Okay bury police, prepare your trigger fingers, cause I always seem to get shunned on this, but here goes...

Time and again, I have said it. Use services like Jamendo. You can find good music, and since it is CC licensed, you can download it, stream it, broadcast it, and burn it to CS's. If you like the artists, you can support them DIRECTLY. How could it be any better? Seriously. It is pure democratization of music, and if you support, or even build if you like, more music outlets such as Jamendo, the musical landscape can change.

Do you really believe that you need an overseeing organization to tell you what music you should be listening to? That is not the century I live in. Where I come from, people prefer pull technologies rather than push. As an example, why should I listen to whatever starved-out, no-talent, over-sexualized pre-teen they just decided was the next great pop star? If I don't like it, why should I? If I desire music like that I should go and GET it rather than have it force-fed to me. I choose to discover music. You know, "back in the day" there were plenty of people who cared about music enough to gather and listen to people play their music in small smoky nightclubs. There used to be folks who would slog their band around in their mother's van for a summer, just because they loved playing music. Or, even DJ's who used to travel from city to city playing whatever new wax they were able to spin. Those things still exist, but not in the form of their former glory.

Look, you don't have to agree with the trimming of your rights. I am in full agreement that our rights are one of the more important things here, but the reality of it is that we are seeing complaints about the symptoms, not the problem. The fact that any organization can exert this much control over any type of media outlet is a symptom of our collective choice to not care. If you really cared about your music, or your art, or your news, you would seek out and support those outlets which provide those things in the format or with the content you desire. You can get good news here on digg, and that's a start. You can get Democracy Player, and get excellent content of many types, for free, and for Free. You can support sites like Jamendo where you can download music and support the artists and genres of your own choosing.

There has been much said lately of the lack of activism among the youth of America. And, although this is not singularly an American problem, it is where I currently live, thus a filter for my current perspective. When is it enough? Our parents knew how to organize. They got together and chose to make a difference in their world, but the future now belongs to those who are on the position to create it. We are driving our own destiny right now, and it would serve us well to choose a little bit of activism. You don't like the war? Go get some friends, and excercise your Constitutional right to peaceably assemble and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Don't like music companies choosing how you experience your own music? Stop paying them, and seek out independent music sources. Don't like major corporations controlling the type of software you use? Vote with your dollars. Don't buy their software, and find free alternatives — and then support the creators.

Activism is a part of life in most other civilized countries, and so too should it be here, but without making a choice to seek out alternatives when the government, corporations, or any assembly of "powerful individuals" decides they know what's best for you, you have little right or recourse for your condition. My father always told me: "You have to bring more to the table than a fork." Meaning you can't just highlight the problems, you have to see through them to the solutions. You have to see alternatives when barriers are raised. That is how you institute change in your life and the lives of your peers, friends, and families.

Go to Jamendo. You might like it. Thank you for listening.
- sbader, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Not all internet radio is the same as regular radio. Check out Pandora, it's radio 2.0.
- k1down, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2People do still ride around in vans playing music. There are still smoky blue's taverns. You just gotta work to know about that ***** these days. That's how they keep all the ***** out of the taverns and not at the shows.
Methanor, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1My life will be left without the awesome inspiration of SOMAFM- Definitely 100 % of my music purchases over the last several years have been due to Rusty Hodges and his talented crew. Where the hell else am I going to find out about artists like Higher Intelligence Agency or Zero One? I am sooo f*ing steamed about this. This government runs afoul again and again. I've called all my representatives several times over the last several weeks- but talk about pissing in the wind. . . . I need that music.
TeatimeGrommit, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1This whole thing seems fishy to me. If they [internet radio companies] really won't make any money under the new royalty scheme, then they can simply close their doors for business before it takes effect. Good luck music industry collecting those back royalties from non-existent companies. If they just *say* they won't make any money, then they get a bunch of crying fanboys calling Congress.

It's like those baseball strikes that used to happen every ten minutes. Buncha rich guys vying for undeserved sympathy.
DarkDragon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Congress, lets make a deal, you save net radio and I'll stop making that stupid "Congress is the opposite of Progress" joke. K?
bloodmoney, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I can't remember the last time I bought a CD. These assholes can kill Internet radio, but their days of profiteering aren't too far behind.
techmaster, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I can't possibly think of a better way to drum up P2P downloads of music, than killing off internet radio sites like Pandora. Congratulations RIAA!
Kaopattai, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0I never listen to radio of any kind anymore. I just purchase music online and listen to my ipod. With my music collection and my husband's combined, I can listen to every song and not hear the same one twice for 20.1 days.
joker1972, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0RIP Internet radio
Trent28, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Time for pirate radio to come back!
romek, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Incredible... it is so obvious what is going on and yet people allow to get screwed once more... it's just a never ending story isn't it? RIAA, MPAA, Oil, Pharmaceuticals, Health Insurance, etc. Is this what democracy is about? I think we need to rename it to be be called Corporate Dictatorship (or just CD for short)... I mean let's be honest with ourselves. These Corporations think they are above the law by making their own laws. How about making Lobbying illegal? Wouldn't that be something eh? Simply incredible.
markman07, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/07/breaking-news-o.html
Maybe NOT!
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Court declines to postpone Internet radio royalty hike

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