>>>By the way, wasn't it the original purpose of the RIAA to protect artists?<<<
Not sure about the origins of the RIAA but now, from all I hear within the indie community, the RIAA is considered to be only looking out for the interests of the Big 5 labels... Here is a forwarded email I received from someone who is a broadcaster & deeply involved in this issue: Without your immediate involvement there are dire circumstances for Internet streamers on the horizon for all but the fat corporate cats and big 5 record labels. You and your friends and U.S. listeners must make some noise NOW. U.S. Copyright law says online-streamed music must pay for performance rights. The price we are to pay has been in arbitration for most of the last year. Last week the results were announced and they are hideous. The proposed fees will cripple webcasting's future. The RIAA and copyright office don't care if you're making money or not. First, iM Networks take: Statement of David Frerichs, Founder, President and Chief Technology Officer of iM Networks, in regard to the CARP decision: If adopted, the CARP recommendations play right into the hands of the corporate giants. Instead of encouraging the spirit of the Internet's level playing field, these fees will squelch innovation by preventing independent Internet broadcasters from growing to a point of profitability. Broadcasters need to reach a critical mass audience before they are able to profitably sell advertising or other services on their station. With these fees, the out of pocket expenses required to grow to that critical mass become prohibitive. As a result, only major networks and corporate giants who already have an aggregated audience will be able to sustain these rates. Had similar rates been imposed in the early days of radio, we would not have the $20 billion dollar FM marketplace that we have today. Second, the succinct background read of the issues: http://www.radiohorizon.com/index.php3?fcn=displayarticle&id=2424 http://www.loc.gov/copyright/carp/webcasting_rates.html http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,50551,00.html http://wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,50625,00.html http://inetprogramming.com/default.html In the second link you will see the office of copyright directions for submitting formal comments on their ruling as well as the ruling. Most people won't do the formal comments because it's not easy. You only have until March 11 to do that. Third, the call to action! Rattle the cage of your legislator. Write the President! Within the next days we will produce :30 announcements that we will make available on our web site that you can run in your stream to urge your listeners to get involved. Here's a link where you can find your representative. http://congress.org/ Put your zip in and get set to email all your representatives from the President down. You may wish to post some of the points that are glaringly bad for the American way of life. Play the spots, post the links. Change the course of copyright history. Sincerely, Mary McCann, The Bone Mama V.P. Radio, iM Networks, Inc. ******************************************** Kate Bennett www.katebennett.com sponsored by Polysonics Discover the Indies at Taylor Guitars: http://www.taylorguitars.com/artists/awp/indies/bennett.html ********************************************
