Wednesday, February 13, 2013 - 12:25pm
A group representing small business webcasters is in Washington, DC today to visit the offices of 21 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, to advocate support of legislation they say is necessary for their businesses to survive.
Representatives of independent webcast operations like Prog Palace Radio, WSUI Online, Girls Rock Radio, Pearadio, and Musera travelled to Washington, DC from across the country to request lawmakers' support for the Internet Radio Fairness Act (background in RAIN here).
The IRFA was introduced into both chambers in the last Congress, and expected to be re-introduced this session. It would change the legal standard judges use to determine industry royalties to criteria known as "801(b)," the standard used for other forms of digital radio.
The group also includes Zackary Lewis, CEO of industry streaming and software provider Liquid Compass; Educational Media Foundation (EMF) in-house counsel Brian Gantman, and several independent musicians supporting the efforts of small webcasters.
RAIN publisher and AccuRadio founder Kurt Hanson, also part of today's "hill walk," said, "All we're here asking for is to use the 801(b) standard -- same as cable & satellite (radio) -- and to balance the needs of copyright owners, users, and the public."
We'll cover today's hill walk more extensively tomorrow in RAIN.