

There are a number of petitions floating around that you can sign to express your support for webcasters in the face of the disastrous royalty rates decided on and recently upheld by the Copyright Royalty Board. Those in support of internet radio should sign the official petition at savenetradio.org.

The site also offers directions for musicians and music fans to contact their Congressional representative. This is important; Congress could act before May 15th, when the rates are scheduled to go into effect, to reject the CRB's decision, which would require webcasters such as Pandora and Live365 to pay retroactive licensing fees that would put most of them out of business or force them to switch to a paid subscription model.

Aside from Congressional intervention, the other way net radio could be saved is by DiMA and other webcasters appealing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. I've emailed DiMA to ask them about their appeal plans, and will post an update if/when I hear back on that.

For now, head over to savenetradio.org to sign the petition, contact your Congressperson, and spread the word.