INTERNET RADIO: NATIONAL DAY OF SILENCE

Many internet radio stations have declared today a "National Day of Silence". Several stations are not broadcasting today (my favorite, WOXY.com, being one) to protest the impending bill that will substantially increase music royalties (a 300 - 1200% increase!) and could subsequently put many small stations out of business on July 15, 2007.

If you enjoy music like I do, it's about time you clicked on SaveNetRadio.org and did something about it! I've already contacted my senators (Chuck & Hillary!) about it and hope something can be done to amend this bill. The first stations to fold will likely be "personalized" ones like Pandora and Finetune (although probably not Last.fm, who was just bought by CBS). The music industry is so backwards, they don't realize that these stations actually HELP stimulate music sales (I know I've found some great new stuff just from listening to net radio). In trying to create more revenue for musicians, instead this could have the unintended effect of driving music listeners to turn to illegal ways of obtaining music. Good work, idiots!

Here's a good article from a legal website (not all lawyers are useless!) that agrees that this is a horrible idea:

A Look at Radio Silence: When Copyright Law Reform Goes Terribly Wrong

SAVE NET RADIO! Otherwise, I might have to listen to my coworkers all day instead. *shiver*