Berkeley-based KPFA radio joined thousands of U.S. webcasters in a Day of Silence on June 26th. KPFA will hush its usual 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 are scheduled to take effect on July 15th. 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, which is about 215 listeners per hour. 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 vaguely-defined "administrative fees" would cost KPFA thousands of dollars each year.

KPFA is urging web radio listeners and supporters to contact their Congressional representatives and ask that they take immediate 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. Read More

Interview with Jenny Toomey of Rock The Net | KPFA's Save Web Radio page | SaveNetRadio.org | Track HR 2060 | Track SB 1353 | Copyright Royalty Board