RIAA, Viacom, and the Big Guys Strike Again

From Live365 Forums:

Despite all the arguments made by the Internet radio industry, e.g. Live365’s CEO Mark Lam’s testimony last April at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on digital radio urging the Committee to help create a level competitive playing field for broadcast, cable, satellite and Internet radio (go here for video and written versions of his testimony: http://www.digmedia.org/content/release.cfm?id=25&content=news), the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has reportedly adopted the new per performance royalty rates put forth by SoundExchange.

It was reported that the new per performance royalty rates for the years from 2006 through 2010 would be $0.0008, $0.0011, $0.0014, $0.0018, and $0.0019, respectively, representing an increase over the existing rate ($0.000762) of 5%, 44%, 84%, 136%, and 149%, respectively, and a year-over-year increase of 5%, 38%, 27%, 29%, and 6%, respectively.

This would undoubtedly impose a grave challenge to the development of Internet radio. From the moment the news broke—and even in the months leading up to the CRB's decision, Live365 has been proactively working on resolving any possible negative effects of the potential royalty rates change, on behalf of our broadcasters and listeners and in cooperation with other DiMA (the Digital Media Association) members and the Internet radio industry at large.

In the days and months to come, Live365 expects to take a series of measures to combat the challenges imposed by the new royalty rates. We will keep you posted of the progress. Before the CRB and Live365 make any formal announcements, however, we ask you to please stay calm and refrain from passing any false speculations and premature judgments.

As far as the X5000 broadcasting package is concerned, we haven’t heard anything about a possible raise in the Small Webcaster royalty minimum premium of $2000 per calendar year, although many believe the CRB may not adopt a new rate for Small Webcasters (although there is no guarantee at this time). Again, please don’t panic before anything is confirmed.

In the meantime, you may want to contact your local Congressmen and Congresswomen. Make your voice heard by the lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

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It seems clear that RIAA wants total control. This is why a monopoly is bad. Right now Sirius and XM are trying to merge. No doubt RIAA is involved in that as well. In the months to come we can expect this beast start really limiting what we have access too. Beyond the miracle of Streamcasting via Live365, You Tube, Mediaplex, and God Tube there is also Podcasting - and with Apple Computer behind it, RIAA especially has a fight on it's hands to kill the Podcasting market. Think of it, Apple is at the Wheel, but advertisers have access to some of the casts that grow in popularity. This creates an all out Big Business civil war.

What RIAA PROBABLY wants:

Total manipulative control over all sound recordings, chart directions, and new trends in music, removing the possibility of a free thinking listener base which in turn ensures all music trends will be totally up to them. This means:

Control of ALL Radio - The genres it plays, and what which jocks play them.

Destruction of Streamcasting - Other media outlets along with RIAA such as Viacom have imposed serious time limits on Mediaplex, You Tube, and even God Tube - media cannot be longer than 10 minutes in length. However, all copywritten material must be removed and accounts that insist on uploading copywritten material must be deleted. Therefore, why the strict 10 minute program restriction? And how did such a law pass?

It's clear that the corrupt owners of major labels and broadcasting outlets are trying to create a minimized monopoly where only the "big names" are in control and the little guy can go to hell. Do they really expect us to continually buy their poorly manufactured and costantly regurgitated recycled crap? This is more serious than I think most realize.

Also involved, our government. Many Americans believe a George Orwell scenario is looming overhead. Clearly, the government could use this situation to put a serious damper on what exactly is heard through our internet. It will be interesting to see if they vote on the side of the little guy or the greedy, corrupt, and clearly evil Big Business trying to control all media outlets.

Imus: FIRED! - AND Racism In America - The Reality

New York Times:

CBS brought a weeklong confrontation over a racial and sexual insult by the radio host Don Imus to an end yesterday when it canceled the “Imus in the Morning” program, effective immediately.

Skip to next paragraph

David Karp/Associated Press

Don Imus left his apartment building in Manhattan Wednesday after learning that CBS Radio, his longtime employer, had dismissed him.

The move came a day after the cable television network MSNBC, a General Electric unit that has simulcast Mr. Imus’s radio program for the last 10 years, removed the show from its morning lineup. The two moves, taken together, mean that Mr. Imus, who has been broadcasting the program for more than 30 years, no longer has a home on either national radio or television.

And now we get to see how far the hypocrisy of the left wing goes!

Don Imus has never exactly lit the world on fire with his radio show. Those of us who don't get him, don't listen long. His racial slur on the air - referring to the Rutgers Atheletes as "nappy haired hos" - was far from appropriate. However far more has been tolerated on the air than this which in reality is not that much.

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are a couple of bats in the belfry. Both are responsible for racism becoming a black on white issue and this smoke screen of targeting rap artists next is just filler.

The issue of racism has switched sides, and white people are supposed to live in constant pennance of an act carried out 130 years ago. I for one, being Irish, refuse to apologize since my people were the target of discrimination during the early 1900's. "Irish Need Not Apply" - remember those signs? My family were not slave owners, we were actually fellow victims of discrimination. Alas, our skin is of pale pursuasion, so therefore, the bigots of the black world had deemed us part of the problem.

Racists.