possible reprieve for internet radio?

[robear...@yahoo.com]

<<Internet Radio Reprieve?

By Wes Phillips

May 6, 2007 - Internet radio streams have received a reprieve from
the US Copyright Review Board (CRB) decision to restructure the
royalty fees for the format. In March, the CRB established fees,
effective retroactively to the beginning of 2006, that would be ramped
up each year through 2010, with a cost of 0.08¢ per performance (per
listener) in 2006, going up to 0.11¢ in 2007; 0.14¢ in 2008; 0.18¢ in
2009; and 0.19¢ in 2010.

In April, the CRB denied an appeal to its initial ruling, saying the
new fee structure would be enacted on May 15. Papers filed in the
Federal Register on May 1 reveal that the CRB voted 3-2 to roll back
the May 15 deadline to July 15. This gives the opponents of the new
fee structure 30 days to appeal the decision in federal court.

Meanwhile, Congressional Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Don
Mazullio (R-IL) have introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act (HR
2060) to provide royalty parity for Internet radio by applying the
same royalty rates to commercial Internet radio, satellite radio,
cable radio, and jukeboxes.

SaveNetRadio continues to count down the days to July 15, urging
concerned consumers to directly contact their representatives to
support the Internet Equality Act. "We feel strongly that Congress
could not possibly have intended a structure whereby Internet radio
services pay 60% to 300% of their revenue in recording royalties,
while satellite radio pays 5-7% and broadcasters pay zero, and we urge
them to support HR 2060, The Internet Radio Equality Act. This
legislation achieves that necessary balance by setting Internet radio
rates equal to that of satellite radio, while also providing the same
important and preferential rules for public and noncommercial Internet
radio." >>

(from stereophile.com website)

[luckydog]

On Thursday a companion bill was introduced in the Senate. That leaves
two months before the new royalty rates go into effect to get both
bills passed through their respective bodies, reconciled for any
differences they may have and sent to the president so he can sign it
into law. Not impossible, but not any time to waste either.

Anyone who doesn't want to see Internet radio disappear needs to
participate in our democracy. Take a few minutes to call your
Congressional Representative and Senators and ask them to support this
legislation. Information on how to do that and much more can be found
at SaveNetRadio.org

On May 7, 12:15 am, "robear572...@yahoo.com" <robear572...@yahoo.com>
wrote: