Many of you may not be aware of this, but the RIAA along with other very large interests have been working hard to shut down Internet broadcasters. They recently worked with the Copyright Royalty Arbitration Panel to approve fees for Internet broadcasting that are tens to hundreds of times higher than the royalties paid by traditional radio stations. The goal here is obvious: groups like the RIAA and National Association of Broadcasters can't stand one bit of competition, so they're trying to drive out the small guys with the willing help of government.

To make a long story short, these fees will shut down the vast majority of online broadcasters, or make the better ones easy targets for acquisition by large media conglomorates that will turn them into stations that play the same tired dreck you hear on your radios today. Payment for every song played since 1998 is demanded on October 20.

Now nobody is saying that web broadcasters shouldn't have to pay royalties. Nobody is saying they should have a free ride. But there's no reason in the world to charge them so disproportionately compared with traditional radio stations.

Please support the Internet Radio Fairness Act. Fax your representatives and tell them to support the legislation. And while you're at it, you may want to support Digitally Imported, one of the more popular Internet broadcasters, if you like dance or classical music.

---Nick

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