March 19, 2002 at 2 PM
The Robber Barons Shall Strike Again
Law is never exciting, but it sure can get people excited. In this case, the issue is Internet radio, an idea with lots of potential but so far little success. But as Save Internet Radio! points out, if the current American law on royalties for Internet broadcasts stands as is, not only will failure be ensured, but all parties will soon lose walletfuls of cash, to the end that it will be impossible to broadcast at all, except perhaps for Microsoft and Yahoo. Of course this is only American law, and I don’t even live in the US, but precedents are powerful and American lawmakers influence other countries.
The simple statistic is this: at the proposed royalty rate, a Webcaster playing 15 songs an hour, with only himself as listener, would owe $184 for the year. 100 listeners would make it $18,400. What kind of advertisers would pay that much for 100 listeners spread across the globe?
Previously: Our Coil Is In A Knot
Subsequently: Your Canadian Political Update
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