Last Minute Web Radio Bill Seems to Please all - P2P-Zone

theknife · 16-11-02, 11:44 AM

Story is here , among other places.

Ostensibly, this looks like a win for all, but as always, the devil is in the details. I can't really tell if this is a full pardon or just a stay of execution for small webcasters....

Quote:

"Whether small Webcasters will be able to negotiate acceptable agreements with SoundExchange (on behalf of the labels) remains to be seen."

It states that the RIAA will still be seeking the same fees, but it's not clear to me what happens if they are unabe to reach agreement by the extended time limit.

...and apparently we have Jesse Helms to thank for this outcome - who woulda thunk it?

JackSpratts · 16-11-02, 12:15 PM

it's really no win at all for the small us webcaster. the same fees apply, including the pretty hefty minimums for your little bedroom rockers who are now shutting down in favor of offshore stations in counties that have the sense not to force these fees onto their own independent broadcasters. this trend will speed up even after the bill is signed. all it does basically is add language that any fee agreement reached today won't be binding on any future agreement yet to be reached.

it still all but kills the best part of u.s. web radio - the individual home-based netcaster.

washinton again demonstrates its' famous myopia.

- js.

theknife · 16-11-02, 12:47 PM

thanks Jack - i was looking forward to your take on this. So what the hell are the people at RAIN (they call it a "stunning victory" in the link I posted) so deleriously happy about? is it that their constituency is the commercial webcaster... so therefore they have no real wish to see the small/home webcaster survive?

JackSpratts · 16-11-02, 04:04 PM

the new bill delays for months (june, '03) any royalties that netcasters must submit, money that would've been due about now and that's the biggest factor in their "stunning victory" - but the money still has to be paid and that's what's wrong with the whole thing. radio is radio, on the net or over the air (or on the net/over the air - the next phase). am, fm or pcm, breaking it up into separately regulated chunks based on some record peddlers' definitions is not the way to grow this important new medium. over the air analog broadcasters don’t pay and neither should netcasters. anyway the rain guys who think they speak for larger outlets (stations like radio paradise etc) knew those owners were terrified their stations would be on the hook next month for hundreds of thousands of dollars in back fees (a sobering thought to be sure and they’ve got my sympathies), so needless to say they're ecstatic over the fee suspensions. but acceptance of the fundamental argument underlying this agreement has crippled the young medium of webcasting and nothing in this so-called victory changes any of that. when 8-12 percent of your REVENUES(!) – not profits - goes to the riaa while your over the air competition gets to keep theirs makes it all but impossible to compete effectively. the concept alone is absurd and must now be tossed out by the courts as discriminatory. the rest of the stuff about non-profit definitions and the ability to make side-deals w/soundexchange are relatively minor bones the riaa threw in to appear to be reasonable. it's an old negotiating ploy. ask for something outrageous like the moon and don't back down – ever – no matter how many awful names you’re called. then at the eleventh hour give back a small piece of cheese and watch everyone say how swell you are while they blindly ignore the facts that both of your hands are in their pockets, that they’re under your control and that they will be forever in your debt. the people in congress are assh@les.

- js.

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16-11-02, 12:15 PM	#2
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,017	it's really no win at all for the small us webcaster. the same fees apply, including the pretty hefty minimums for your little bedroom rockers who are now shutting down in favor of offshore stations in counties that have the sense not to force these fees onto their own independent broadcasters. this trend will speed up even after the bill is signed. all it does basically is add language that any fee agreement reached today won't be binding on any future agreement yet to be reached. it still all but kills the best part of u.s. web radio - the individual home-based netcaster. washinton again demonstrates its' famous myopia. - js.

16-11-02, 12:47 PM	#3
theknife my name is Ranking Fullstop Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Promontorium Tremendum Posts: 4,391	thanks Jack - i was looking forward to your take on this. So what the hell are the people at RAIN (they call it a "stunning victory" in the link I posted) so deleriously happy about? is it that their constituency is the commercial webcaster... so therefore they have no real wish to see the small/home webcaster survive?

16-11-02, 04:04 PM	#4
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,017	the new bill delays for months (june, '03) any royalties that netcasters must submit, money that would've been due about now and that's the biggest factor in their "stunning victory" - but the money still has to be paid and that's what's wrong with the whole thing. radio is radio, on the net or over the air (or on the net/over the air - the next phase). am, fm or pcm, breaking it up into separately regulated chunks based on some record peddlers' definitions is not the way to grow this important new medium. over the air analog broadcasters don’t pay and neither should netcasters. anyway the rain guys who think they speak for larger outlets (stations like radio paradise etc) knew those owners were terrified their stations would be on the hook next month for hundreds of thousands of dollars in back fees (a sobering thought to be sure and they’ve got my sympathies), so needless to say they're ecstatic over the fee suspensions. but acceptance of the fundamental argument underlying this agreement has crippled the young medium of webcasting and nothing in this so-called victory changes any of that. when 8-12 percent of your REVENUES(!) – not profits - goes to the riaa while your over the air competition gets to keep theirs makes it all but impossible to compete effectively. the concept alone is absurd and must now be tossed out by the courts as discriminatory. the rest of the stuff about non-profit definitions and the ability to make side-deals w/soundexchange are relatively minor bones the riaa threw in to appear to be reasonable. it's an old negotiating ploy. ask for something outrageous like the moon and don't back down – ever – no matter how many awful names you’re called. then at the eleventh hour give back a small piece of cheese and watch everyone say how swell you are while they blindly ignore the facts that both of your hands are in their pockets, that they’re under your control and that they will be forever in your debt. the people in congress are assh@les. - js.