Save Independent Web Radio

(Message from Grey Lodge)

Tonite's broadcast of NO OTHER RADIO NETWORK on KPFA, hosted by Russ Kent (aka
'Mr. Hate'), will only be available to hear via your radio dial . KPFA will be
turning their webstreams silent in a movement of virtual shutdown.
Write your rep's, spread the word.... !!

Save Net Radio
Save Web Radio
Not the Radio

Bay area (CA):
KPFA 94.1 FM
KPFB 89.3

KFCF Fresno
KPFK Los Angeles
WBAI New York
KPFT Houston
WPFW Washington, DC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KPFA's Webcasts to Go Silent in Protest of Royalty Rate Increase
Non-commercial Radio Listeners Urged to Contact Congressional Representatives


(Berkeley, CA – June 22, 2007) KPFA will join thousands of U.S. webcasters in a
Day of Silence this Tuesday, June 26. KPFA will silence its regular Internet
broadcasts to draw attention to an impending royalty rate increase that, if
implemented, would lead to the virtual shutdown of this country's Internet radio
industry.

A recent Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) decision increases royalties that
commercial Internet webcasters pay to play music by up to 1200%. The new rates
take effect on July 15. Non-commercial stations, such as KPFA, will be required
to pay royalties at the commercial rate for any listeners they have over a limit
defined by the CRB, about 215 listeners per hour.

"It's particularly onerous that non-commercial webcasters will have to pay the
same rates, past a certain low threshold, as commercial stations", says KPFA's
interim program director Sasha Lilley. "KPFA may be forced to cap the number of
people who can listen to us online".

The CRB decision also requires that webcasters pay a minimum $500
"administrative fee" for every channel they broadcast online, without clearly
defining what a channel is, or what the fees are to be used for. These arbitrary
and vaguely defined "administrative fees" would cost KPFA thousands of dollars a
year.

“At this point no one seems quite sure what the additional fees will be or even
how to calculate what we would owe,” says Bonnie Simmons, a veteran KPFA DJ,
“The accounting process itself may cost us more than we can possibly afford.”

KPFA urges listeners to contact their Congressional representatives and ask that
they take action to save Internet radio. The Internet Radio Equality Act, H.R.
2060, has been introduced by Representatives Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Don
Manzullo (R-Ill.) to address many of the problems with the CRB decision. A
companion bill, S.B. 1353, has been introduced in the Senate. “We are urging
Congress to take action to overturn the CRB decision,” says Michael Manoochehri,
KPFA Web Director, “Legislation has been put in place, but without immediate
action by Congress, the legislation will not be voted on before the July 15th
deadline.”

For many years, KPFA has featured artists who are not normally heard on
commercial radio. KPFA Music Director, Luis Medina, describes KPFA's music shows
as “programming that is innovative, fresh and cutting edge,” adding, “KPFA's
music programmers have the freedom to go beyond the standards set by other radio
stations handicapped by commercial obligations and restrictive play lists.”

To learn more about how the royalty hikes will affect KPFA, as well as how to
contact Congressional Representatives, visit Save Web Radio, or
contact web@kpfa.org.

............................................................
email: ninah@ubuibi.org
bigCityOrchestre web
women take back the noise
no other radio network


=================
Grey Lodge
GreyPod

God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.- Voltaire

"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If
you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use
the words."
--From How to Build A Universe That Won’t Fall Apart in Two Days by Philip K.
Dick

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
sTaRe

There was a place called the Conspiracy Cafe. Shelves filled with books, film
reels, sound tapes, official government reports in blue binders. She wanted to
have a coffee and browse but he waved the place off- a series of sterile
exercises. He believed the wellsprings were deeper and less detectable, deeper
and shallower both, look at billboards and matchbooks, trademarks on products,
birthmarks on bodies, look at the behavior of your pets.

Something's staring you straight in the face.