Support the Internet Radio Equality Act

KEEP NET RADIO ALIVE!

If you listen to streamed radio broadcasts online at work like I and many of my friends do, you may have noticed that today, June 26, 2007 is a national Internet Radio Day of Silence.

The reason for this to encourage SUPPORT for H.R. 2060, otherwise known as the Internet Radio Equality Act, which has been introduced in the House of Representatives, to nullify the March 2, 2007 determination of the Copyright Royalty Judges to increase the royalties paid by online radio content providers.

"July 15, when collection begins on the new royalty fees, literally will be the day the music died. Most Internet radio Webcasters will be driven out of business because of a massive retroactive royalty rate that is above total revenues for most in the business. For large Webcasters, the royalty increase could be between 40 percent and 70 percent of revenues. For small Webcasters the royalty increase could reach up to 1,200 percent of revenues."...

“Our bill is about standing up for folks ranging from a small Webcaster in a basement in Corvallis to an innovative startup in Beaverton to a new band trying to be heard in Portland to a huge music fan in Coos Bay” [Senator, Sam] Wyden said. “Keeping Internet radio alive is part of a broader issue that is important to me -- keeping the e-commerce engine running by preventing discrimination against it.”
Source

Savenetradio.org