Re: The fix is in -- massive Web radio fee hike & the XM/Sirius merger

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "David P. Reed" <dpreed () reed com>
Date: March 7, 2007 4:23:02 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Cc: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: Re: [IP] The fix is in -- massive Web radio fee hike & the  
XM/Sirius merger

I watched Karmazin testify on CSPAN this past weekend.  Interesting  
to listen to him being questioned by Berman about how they will treat  
royalties to artists.   One of the two companies pays artist  
performance royalties - the other is involved in an active court  
action claiming that they should be treated like over-the-air  
broadcasting and be exempt from artist performance royalties.    
Karmazin weaseled like crazy (it's worth listening to him) but  
basically said he wanted the favorable treatment given to NAB (whom  
Berman hammered with questions in the same interchange about their  
"exploitation" of artists).

The "Internet Radio" treatment is the worst of all possible worlds.   
It's the logical conclusion of a badly crafted set of precedents (at  
least in my personal opinion).  But whole industries are built in  
such a way that they would be shaken to the core if there were a  
small change in what way money flows (to music authors or performers  
or record labels in what proportion).

The problem really comes down to the fact that there is no difference  
between a download and a stream over a reliable bitstream in digital  
form.   If you stare at the bits flying by they are the same bits.    
Yet copyright tries to impute intentionality to the form.   And  
"intention" is a slippery concept in the law, especially intention  
imputed from the technology rather than from the minds of the actual  
participants.

What we need is to rethink the entire field of audio artistic  
copyright.   We won't get that.   What we can hope for is a musical  
*license* technique that works in the digital age.   But unlike  
printed copyright, the law REQUIRES particular license terms which  
cannot be voided by the author or the performer.   Thus, no "music  
GPL" can be possible.   It would be illegal.


David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: March 7, 2007 3:03:19 PM EST
> To: dave () farber net
> Cc: lauren () vortex com
> Subject: The fix is in -- massive Web radio fee hike & the XM/ 
> Sirius merger
>
>
> Dave,
>
> While no conspiracy beyond "business as usual" is required to
> explain this confluence of events, it is fascinating to note the
> continuing collapse of true competition in the music and radio
> industries (as in the Internet ISP industry).
>
> On one hand, we have the proposed XM/Sirius merger, touted
> nonsensically as a boon to consumers.  But -- oops! -- word is out
> that the FCC Chairman is concerned that Sirius' Karmazin wasn't
> exactly forthcoming when he suggested that consumers wouldn't face
> increased fees for combined services under the merger plan.  Karmazin
> now seems to say that he was misunderstood -- of *course* the fees
> would be higher if you wanted the union of what XM and Sirius
> currently have available.  But Karmazin -- the same guy who arranged
> Howard Stern's $500 million Sirius deal -- insists that with
> competitors like Internet radio, the merger should still go through,
> prior FCC rules be damned.
>
> Hmmm.  But what about that Internet radio competition?  Word is out
> today that the Copyright Royalty Board is proposing massive fee
> increases and the end of exemptions -- a combination that will
> likely put all but the largest Internet radio broadcasters --
> especially the ones with limited revenue, nonprofits, and the like
> -- out of business.  So much for that flavor of competition.  But the
> recording industry isn't concerned.  As their spokesman noted, large
> operations like Yahoo! and Clear Channel Communications will certainly
> be able to pony up plenty of new moola.
>
> Everyone else be damned, obviously.
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren Weinstein
> lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
> http://www.pfir.org/lauren
> Co-Founder, PFIR
>    - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
> Co-Founder, IOIC
>    - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
> Founder, CIFIP
>    - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
> Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
> Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
> DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
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