I wonder how this will affect the Canadian online music industry?

Will it not lead to many Dj's who now have radio sites in the US taking their music to sites in other countries?

I think its a ridiculous situation.  It sure appears to me that its time for US net users and businesses to either stand up for their rights or screw the system by finding a work around.  Or maybe its time to ditch the idiotic US excuse for a governmental system.  They do seem to find a way to screw the American Pubic (and everyone else) out of a good time, especially if its internet related and doesn't grab them a buck.

Best of Luck to all the small DJs being screwed by this new money clutch.

... a bit of advice?  Maybe its time to immigrate to a place with lots of jobs, reasonable laws and REAL freedom of speech!

Good Luck guys.  I wish you the best.

Hello again everyone.

It has come to my attention that there are some misconceptions about legitimate internet radio that have influenced some members of the public to support the recent decision of the Copyright Control board that will force most legitimate internet broadcasters to shut down.

Over the past week I have been spending a lot of time raising public awareness about our fight for internet radio. I have had several negative responses letting me know that we are “getting what we deserve”. This is based on the argument that that internet radio enables CD quality downloads of their shows which is in direct violation of copyright laws. That is why most of them support the idea of internet radio broadcasters being charged per listener rather than revenue based flat rate, like commercial terrestrial broadcasters are. This is simply not true.

It must be pointed out that licensed internet broadcasters in fact have very strict rules to follow. We are not allowed to offer any content to be downloaded. In fact we are required to put into place any methods deemed reasonable in order to prevent any attempts at recording our content. We are also required to monitor the content of our chat rooms, in order to intervene if people are talking about sharing music with each other. If people do so, we are required to ban them from our station as well.

The reality is that Internet broadcasting in the United States is very strictly regulated. The majority of internet stations are run by radio enthusiasts who do it for the love of music. They spend a considerable amount of time and money on studio equipment, on broadcasting software, on anti piracy software and on bandwidth. Most don’t even come close to breaking even since they rely solely on donations by their listeners. The DJ’s on theses stations contribute programming on a volunteer basis and buy their own equipment as well, since they usually aren’t in the same city as the station. All of these people take what they do very seriously and follow the broadcasting regulations to the letter. If they don’t, they face stiff fines and in some cases, jail.

Internet stations in the United States that do make their programming content available for download are in direct violation of the broadcasting rules and are usually prosecuted. Hence, most stations that offer downloadable content are based outside of the US. In Europe for instance, Internet Broadcasting is still un-enforced and mostly lawless industry. I have spoken to European broadcasters and they share the opinion that most of the internet stations in Europe do not pay any royalties at all. Most of them do offer downloads of their programming.

People may support the Copyright Control Board’s decision with good intentions: to prevent unlawful copying of the broadcasting content, and therefore the artists music. However their means will achieve the opposite effect. Those of us who are paying our dues and following all the rules will be forced off air due to the fact that our royalty payments will be far greater than the revenue we can generate (in some cases 10 times more). Unlicensed stations from outside the United States will multiply to fill that void, thereby increasing the availability of downloadable content. The royalty pool will diminish, because the legitimate stations are no longer broadcasting, and foreign stations simply don’t pay royalties. The artists that supporters of the new royalty structure intend to protect, will end up with even less money than before.

While I respect everyone’s opinion, I do implore everyone to think this through before supporting the March 2nd decision.

Best regards,

DJ Formaldehyde