Internet Radio's 'Second Chance' Bogging Down in House

An anonymous reader writes "Wired is reporting that the Internet Radio Equality Act is failing fast in the House, with negotiations breaking down over fair pricing for internet radio broadcasters. 'A legislative setback could make it harder to dislodge the new fees, which took effect last month after a federal appeals court refused to postpone the payment deadline. With the threat of congressional backlash fading, SoundExchange could find little incentive to budge from its current position ... SoundExchange has already proposed changes that could relieve small and custom-streaming sites from charges they could not possibly afford to pay, at least in the short term. Many expect a small-webcaster deal to be done by early September, when Congress goes back into session. But the deal on the table hasn't changed since SoundExchange extended an offer in May to charge them 10 percent of gross revenue under $250,000, or 12 percent of gross revenues over $250,000, with a revenue cap at $1.25 million.'" All very cushy for SoundExchange. Wired also points out that this is the same organization illegally lobbying for terrestrial radio royalties through 'third party' shell groups.

Comments

Re:One's "illegal lobbying"

[mi]

The Pirate Bay is breaking no laws it its country of origin, so that's really a bad example.

So? They did break break America's laws, which is something Americans usually find reprehensible. And its not like all of your "pirating" friends are from abroad either :-)

Furthermore, I've yet to read a single Slashdot comment seriously advocating the abolition of copyright

Well, after the initial shock of somebody rejecting the obvious, I went searching. These two are what I found in 5 minutes of using Slashdot's (rather broken) search. These are only the flat-out "abolish copyright" kinds. There are plenty more posters, who — like you — don't reject copyright completely, but (inconsistently) scoff at any attempts by copyright owners to enforce their rights: "You have your rights, you just don't have the right to use them".

Petitioning for redress of grievances was never intended to apply to corporate entities

That — personal vs. corporate — is a really common and a really stupid distinction. I — along with millions of small-business owners — own a corporation, which you want to keep from petitioning the government. But you don't mind Warren Buffet or Larry Ellison or Bill Gates petitioning politicians in person...

My belief is that lobbying should be illegal, period. You want to write your Congressman and convince him of the merits of your position?

So, where is the line between legitimately communicating your concerns to your lawmaker and "lobbying"? Oh, well, must be another case of the "I know it, when I see it", used so "successfully" to distinguish art from pornography. Hear, hear...