On Mon, 13 May 2002 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: > > > > > http://www.saveinternetradio.org/ > > http://www.somafm.com/carp/ > > > >Even if you don't listen to net radio, call, e-mail, or otherwise > >notify your reps that you want this bill stuck down and that you want > >to save internet radio!
About a month ago, I e-mailed a somewhat modified version of the middle-of-the-road e-mail off the top link to both my senators and my congressman; yesterday, in the snail-mail, I received a very informative and in-depth letter from Senator Gregg, detailing (somewhat elusively) where he stood, and what was going on. Were the accompanying documentation from the library of Congress not several pages long, I would transcribe it here for perusal, but the bottom line is that, thanks to the DMCA (my, what a surprise) Internet radio is viewed differently than AM/FM broadcasts, and is to be billed differently. The currently arrived-at billing is incredibly out-of-sorts with regards to their analog radio counterparts; nevertheless, since it was arrived at by arbitration, it is being presented to the Librarian of Congress, a position that, until yesterday, I didn't even know existed. He can, unilaterally, decide whether to implement, alter, or impose his own rates. While many people have apparently made their views clear, only the parties covered by arbitration really have a say -- and, surprise, surprise, they -are- making themselves heard. Based on what the letter seemed to imply, I think that there is cause for cautious optimism, though I don't know if I was reading too much between the lines. I don't have the paperwork with me, so I can't swear to this, but I believe The Final Word (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) is due to come down on or near 5/25. Note: IANAL; if I got any of this wrong, please forgive me, but I think I touched on the particulars. If anyone is truly interested, give me a fax number, and I'll fax over the stuff sometime tomorrow. -Ken ***************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *****************************************************************
