From Rep. Inslee's press release: "Disappointed in the Librarian of Congress' recent imposition of high fees on web radio broadcasters and the resultant shutdown of many web radio broadcasts (including KIRO and KMTT in Seattle), U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee [right] (D-WA), George Nethercutt [below] (R-WA), and Rick Boucher (D-VA) introduced new legislation to change existing web radio laws.

"The bill is designed to make the copyright royalty arbitration process more fair for smaller entities, and will go before the House of Representatives' Judiciary and Small Business Committees...

"Said Nethercutt, 'No one wins under the current CARP standard -- webcasters will close shop, consumers lose access to a wide selection of programming, and copyright holders collect nothing...'

"Said Boucher, 'Unfortunately, both the CARP and the Librarian of Congress were working under a flawed law that has produced a royalty rate which harms not only the hundreds of webcasters that have already shut down operations, but also Internet users seeking innovative music programming and artists seeking alternative avenues through which to promote their music...'

"Some highlights of Inslee's, Nethercutt's, and Boucher's Internet Radio Fairness Act include:

(1) Small businesses (those that -- six million dollars in gross revenue) will be exempted from last week's decision by the Librarian of Congress's on fees for web radio...

(2) All future CARPs must change the royalty rate standard from the 'willing-buyer/willing-seller' to the 'traditional' standard that was enacted by the 1976 Copyright Act...

(3) Small businesses will be exempted from the payment requirement for participation in future CARP proceedings...

(4) All future Carps must eliminate fees for temporary recordings ('ephemeral recordings')...

(5) All future CARPS must comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act. This will require Carps to specifically consider the impact of any decisions on small businesses."

Look for more, including RAIN Analysis, on this proposed bill soon...

From CNet News.com: "Copyright owners would be able to legally hack into peer-to-peer networks, according to a bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

"The measure would dramatically rewrite federal law to permit nearly unchecked electronic disruptions if a copyright holder has a 'reasonable basis' to believe that piracy is occurring.

"The bill, sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman [right], D-Calif., and Howard Coble [left], R-N.C., would immunize groups such as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) from all state and federal laws if they disable, block or otherwise impair a 'publicly accessible peer-to-peer file-trading network...'

"Because Congress only has about five work weeks left before it is scheduled to adjourn for the year, the outlook for the bill is uncertain.

"However, its sponsors include top Republican and Democratic committee chairmen so it's likely to receive a warm welcome in the House of Representatives at a hearing tentatively scheduled for this fall. Coble is the chairman of the House subcommittee on intellectual property, and Berman is the top Democrat on the panel...

"The draft bill doesn't specify what techniques, such as viruses, worms, denial-of-service attacks, or domain name hijacking, would be permissible. It does say that a copyright-hacker should not delete files, but it limits the right of anyone subject to an intrusion to sue if files are accidentally erased."

Read the complete story here.



From Wired.com: "Legislation meant to thwart unauthorized downloading on certain peer-to-peer networks will still allow major media companies to offer file-trading through their own systems...

"Along with making it open season on individual users, open-source programs, and decentralized networks, the bill also gives a free pass to chat applications run by the very media companies that would most benefit from open-source networks being shuttered.

"AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), MSN Messenger [right] and Yahoo Messenger -- which each have specific file-trading options built into their systems that enable millions of users to trade their share without fear of electronic attack -- will continue to flourish. The recording industry and movie studios have largely ignored those three chat applications, which have financial ties to the major record studios and movie studios, in their litigation and anti-piracy activities.

"'What this bill has said is that what is good enough for the Internet isn't good enough for AOL,' said Fred von Lohmann, an intellectual property lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation."

Read this entire article in Wired here.

...

... The Internet radio industry may be looking at this bill with some concern. What sort of implications might this new power for copyright holders have in the webcasting field? For instance, if SoundExchange believes a particular webcaster isn't properly reporting its playlists for royalty purposes -- is this a "reasonable" enough basis to think there's a copyright violation? And if so, will they be allowed to disrupt the webcaster's operation? The bill does explicitly say "peer-to-peer" and "piracy." It doesn't mention webcasting or other copyright violations. But might giving the copyright owners police permissions be a dangerous precedent? One that could lead to new regulations violating the rights of webcasters? And the point of the second article could be applied here as well. If, like many webcasters suspect, the ultimate aim of record labels is to price independent Internet radio outlets out the market to own it themselves, they now would have another powerful tool to do so, from which their own applications may be immune. -- PM ...

From The Observer's John Naughton: "Internet radio is a great illustration of why the unregulated Internet stimulates so much innovation and allows an unparalleled range of choice. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that it's under threat.

"Way back in 1994, a chap named Rob Glaser had a great idea for ferrying audio signals across the Net...special 'player' software (available as a free download) would, after a brief pause, start playing the audio even as the rest of the file was downloading, thereby giving the listener the illusion of being able to listen to audio programming live. Thus was born 'streaming media'...

"One of the reasons Real Audio took off was because it enabled anyone to set up a virtual radio station. No longer did one need a broadcasting licence and a transmitter and all the other expensive apparatus of broadcasting: all that was required was a server, a broadband connection, some server software (available at a modest price from Mr. Glaser) and a source of audio material. It followed as the night the day therefore that Internet radio stations mushroomed like flowers after a desert storm...

"What happened, in other words, was a stupendous extension of consumer choice at a time when conventional radio was becoming increasingly bland and standardised as a result of corporate consolidation...

"Now, however, this glorious explosion of consumer choice is under threat. The record companies persuaded the US Copyright Office that Internet radio stations should pay more onerous royalties than those imposed on conventional broadcast stations. The Office ruled that Webcasters should not only pay a royalty to songwriters, but also to the record companies, and added the crippling requirement that the Webcasting royalty should be levied on a per listener basis...

"It's just another case of how the owners of intellectual property are trying to choke off the future."

Read this entire item here.


A new company called YES Networks has launched their interactive song identification and retail tool for broadcast radio. The company this week announced that over 1000 US radio stations are taking part in the service.

One of the developers of the product, ConneXus Corporation, in 1999 introduced the "*CD" system (see details in RAIN here), upon which YES is based. The tool allows listeners to identify the songs they hear on broadcast radio, and easily buy the relevant CD, concert tickets, or find live online auctions related to the artist. The system covers over 1000 music stations in over 150 US markets, and can track music back 24 hours.

The service is can be customized and added to a particular radio station's website, and is accessible to wireless users through a "WAP" interface. There is no fee for radio stations to include the YES service on their sites. Stations then get a cut of the revenue generated by music, merchandise, and ticket sales through their site.