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Senate Committee Holds Webcasting Hearing
jonathanjo writes "Yesterday (5/15/02) the US Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled: "Copyright Royalties: Where is the Right Spot On The Dial For Webcasting." This was a review of the work of CARP, the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel, the group formed by the DMCA that has closed down webstreaming for many independent radio stations with new high fees and exhaustive reporting requirements. Representatives from RIAA, Digital Media Association, Arbitron, Real Networks, and Yahoo gave testimony, as well as people representing two independent Vermont webcasters, and the American Federation Of Television and Radio Artists. Senator Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) testimony was surprisingly sympathetic to small webcasters (especially by inviting two from his state to speak). Orrin Hatch gave the expected pro-DMCA boilerplate."
I don't know who to like in Congress anymore. When it comes to the music and entertainment industries it seems that both the Republicans and the Democrats have had their palms equally greased by the lobbyists. The corruption and lobbying virtually extinguishes the will of the people. With the entertainment industry in one corner it becomes even worse. They have the power to influence what the masses see in the media and can sway their opinions.
People exchanging music suddenly became hardened criminals sitting in the darkness behind a computer screen plotting the overthrow of the capitalist recording companies. The way these revolutionaries are potrayed I'm not sure what I'd do if I ever met one in a dark alley. Would I run? Would I be afraid of this dark nemesis of intellectual property rights? Are they the spawn of evil that the RIAA and MPAA has made people out to be? What about all the flagrant copyright violators who buy VCRs and tape programs for their personal archive of movies and shows they like? Do these people walk the dark path of corruption? How can we return these souls to the light?
Case in point: I was listening to Opie and Anthony a few days ago and they had some joker from Metallica on. Normally I would change the channel since the group sucks and I have boycotted them anyway, but I found it intriguing what he was saying. He actually said it was sharing to send out tapes to 2000 of your friends.. that's fine. If you put it on the Internet however that is "stealing" (in his words). Where is the point of no return? I can give away your music for free as long as I get to know the people? How about if I'm swapping mp3 collections with friends from IRC? Is that fine? Where does the line get drawn? These luddites will eventually get old and die away, but hopefully they won't have a chance to corrupt musicians from the next generation who must understand they need to embrace technology and not shun it to succeed.
Unfortunately, however well-intentioned the thought is, the reality is that most musicians would not realize any additional income, unless you have change for a penny. How much do you think consumers are going to pay either directly or indirectly? Divide that by the number of artists who will think they are entitled to be paid. Small number. Very.
Such a company would be faced with the same (greater?) obstacles as ASCAP/BMI/SESAC with respect to radioplay.
"Online distribution/radio HAS to be cheaper than retail channels. Common sense says so."
How so? Sure, the raw cost of goods sold is cheaper (i.e. little or no manufacturing costs), but why would the promotional costs (to both radio and retail) necessarilly be cheaper online? If anything, such costs might actually be significantly greater given the relatively much smaller barrier to entry for the hacks. IT is not cheap to rise above the din of background noise.
If the solutions were so self-evident, I am sure somebody would have successfully exploited them.
Brootal
It's interesting that "they" are listening. Why?
This doesn't necessarily mean that the politicians personally care about this issue. It is more likely to mean that we are seeing the birth of politics on the Internet. The independents are gaining a voice because they are more effectively rallying support for thier cause than the traditional lobbiests.
I'm happy about this.
What I'm not happy about is that once this process is understood by the majors, the same folks we dislike because they shut us out of pollitical processes today will be the ones controlling the debate on the Internet.
Be aware of this.