Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) has waded right into the debate over Internet broadcasting, introducing a bill that would overturn the recent ruling requiring webcasters to pay a flat rate per song streamed, rather than the traditional percentage of their revenue.
The Copyright Royalty Board recently raised rates on Internet webcasters, who will soon face greatly-increased fees for streaming music on their stations. The issue affected not just Internet broadcasters but noncommercial groups like NPR, and the broadcasters filed an appeal of the decision earlier this month, but were denied.
Inslee's bill, the Internet Radio Equality Act, would toss out the Board's decision and return the webcasting industry to a percentage-of-revenue model. In this case, the percentage would be set at the same rate paid by satellite radio, which is 7.5 percent.
Support the bill. I do.
Conservatives should because free internet broadcasting is yet another avenue for free expression. We all know the Democrats are angling to force their opinions on everyone with their proposed legislation re-enacting 'Equal Time', but most sensible people agree that there is more than enough broadband for everyone to get their points across. Even Hezbollah gets our attention.
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