Good news…kind of.
It’s a reprieve!
Shake your rebooty! Internet radio will not be silenced on Sunday.
SoundExchange (SX), the collection branch of the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) agreed to a temporary window of opportunity for Internet radio by permitting webcasters to stay on the air without fear of legal retribution, until a compromise between both parties is reached.
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) brokered the deal at the request of the House Commerce Committee late yesterday.
Markey’s figured out that the RIAA packs more blubber than your average whale.
More good news…kind of.
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) put his head back in its shell for the weekend after being blocked from attaching measures to an FCC funding bill, which, if passed, would give the FCC back the right to play judge and jury.
Its six-figure fines are designed to chastise stations and networks for any expletives broadcast- even if it happens by accident. That includes mics picking up blaspheming from crowds at baseball games, tennis matches, and NASCAR, just to name a few.
The measure also tacks on new rules to violent content on television. Browback feels he's an expert on the matter since he's a lifetime member of the NRA. Just ask Mitt Romney.
Like Internet radio broadcasts, it’s far from a dead issue. Sen. Dan Inouye’s Commerce Committee claims jurisdiction and has placed it on next week’s schedule. Inouye is a moderate Democrat from Hawaii. In these changing times, a moderate Democrat is a moderate Republican in drag.
What can be said about Christian Coalition marionette Sen. Sam Brownback and others of the same ilk? They believe their own hype of living in an evil exploitive world. It serves as their protection. They view others as being petty and vindictive the way themselves are.
What’s the old saying? If you become a friend of fools you can be elected to anything.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Internet radio can't stall this indefinitely. The RIAA lobbyists will be working the floor next week.
The same will be true of the pro-Brownback types. You are right about the political climate. You are either for obscenity or against it in Washington. There is no gray area.
John you're getting stupid in your
old age. If we can't police ourselves
and keep our own houses at least
decent then the government has no
choice but to step in. Remember, we
don't own the airwaves. They are a
public resource that we are allowed
to use.
I do think the fines are over the
top but I'm not too surprised. As
usual we can't seem to meet in the
middle.
And if your outraged about this
then where's the outrage about the
"fairness" doctrine?
Mike Dane
I do not want to live in a world where the Christian Coalition wields that much power to control what we see and hear. Leave that to me to decide. The same people that legislate censorship have no problem with guns on our streets. I am far more concerned with crime in poor neighborhoods and the Iraq war. Leave media alone.
The criminals are not the internet radio stations. They are providing a service and playing music that would have otherwise gone unheard since they cannot compete against the major record companies. Does the RIAA membership fear the independent that much? There should be no fees on any media that promotes new music or provides music that would otherwise not be heard through any other means. Terrestrial radio should pay since they already have another forum available and isnt readily available to the mass audience to participate in. Internet only stations should not have to pay the RIAA protection money. Wake up congress.
Sound Exchange is now trying to come off as one of the good guys though their motives have not changed. Beware. Internet radio is not out of the danger zone yet and may never be unless Congress puts an end to their mafioso style tactics.
Post a Comment