Small Webcasters get Powerful New Ally

An anonymous reader writes "On, Sunday, October 20, 2002, the RIAA's subsidiary, SoundExchange, was set to introduce draconian new fees on small internet webcasters - fees that were designed to drive those webcasters out of business and preserve the RIAA's monopoly on the distribution of music in North America. One of those small webcasters is the Triangle's classical music station, WCPE - quite possibly the finest classical music station in the world. Now it turns out that WCPE has an 800 lb gorilla in their corner, and he's set his sights on the RIAA."

Double WOW

[Christopher_G_Lewis]

Jesse Helms? I never would have thought that he was 800lbs...

hmm. wonder what mchawking would say about this...

[asscroft]

After all, he specializes in MP3s, and his songs are streamed from his site and mp3.com, but then again, one of his song is called "Why won't Jesse Helms just hury up and die"

I guess we now know why, he's meant to save the webcasters.

"Dammit, how'd we miss this guy?"

[Dr.Seuss]

Well, you can bet the RIAA won't make the mistake of overlooking his campaign funding [opensecrets.org] again! ;)

Okay, I give up...

[L. VeGas]

"...the Triangle's classical music station..."

What the hell is "the Triangle"? And why do they have a classical music station. Now I can understand a square might have a classical station, or maybe a pentagram would have an acid rock station.

Maybe it's because they use triangles in symphonies. What kind of station would a circle have, I wonder?

Support the artists!

[Anonymous Coward]

Beethoven and Mozart will compose more symphonies if they can put bread on their table.

Re:WCPE may be great, but that's not why he did it

[utahjazz]

Damin that Helms! I've released 3 albums of really killer sermons, and I haven't gotten a dime from these stations yet.

Re:For crying out loud

[maan]

Sorry...I've never done this, but I just have to today:

Imagine a beowulf of slashdots!! Could that do it?

Re:Wow

[foistboinder]

Jesse Helms? I never would have thought a High Ranking Republican would get involved like this- and on the side of the smaller guy.

Sometimes, even a blind squirrel finds a nut.

What a genuinely interesting dilemma.

[Quarex]

I thought surely my stance of thinking both the RIAA and the Religious Right were both wrong about everything would never be problematic.

But, no! Now, I might owe my ability to listen to all my favorite death metal, synth-pop, and hard house/trance webcasts to a group of people who generally only support things I vehemently oppose.

So. . . confused. . . cannot pick. . . side. . .

It's a misprint

[JohnTheFisherman]

He's an 800 year old gorilla.

Re:Okay, I give up...

[Dr Caleb]

What kind of station would a circle have, I wonder?

From the circular shape, I'd say a station with both kinds of music.

Country and Western.

Re:It's true what they say

[immanis]

Dear god, please don't ever make me imagine Jesse Helms as a bedfellow.

Gee, what an ally

[TheGreenLantern]

This is great and all that the bill was held up, but Jesse Helms? The man has 9 toes in the grave, and will be lucky if he lives long enough to retire at the end of this year.

Re:Why or Why not

[micromoog]

Really when it comes down to brass tacks ... when the rubber meets the road ... Does it truly mater why he did it? Politics makes strange bedfellows.

Too...many...cliched...sayings...can't...compute ...BOOOMM!!

Funny thing happened today

[Uttles]

The same day that this story is posted, Whitney Houston's new album is leaked to the internet [foxnews.com] a full month before its release date. Awesome. Die RIAA, DIE!

Re:WCPE may be great, but that's not why he did it

[BrentN]

No, no. Thats *Darned* if you do, damned if you don't...

Re:fuck internet radio.

[falzer]

It's hard to understand how I would include music that I still don't know in my playlists. Please ellaborate on that.

Magic?

strange bedfellows

[technoCon]

Funny how getting on the right side of the royalty fiasco changes the typical slashdotter's attitude toward Jesse Helms and the religious right.

almost as ironic as how RIAA companies (whose artists gleefully trash the Ten Commandments) whine, "thou shalt not steal copyrighted tunes."

Ugh!

[nullard]

Ugh! I just agreed with Jesse Helms. I feel dirty.

Re:Wow

[delcielo]

He was heard saying afterwards:

"And when we're done with RIAA, we should think about a first strike with nuclear weapons in Korea, and in manchuria."

Re:It's a misprint

[count_dooku]

He's an 800 year old gorilla.

No, no. You're thinking of Strom Thurmond [senate.gov] (R-SC).

--

Re:Sad news ... Stephen King dead at 55

[Stephen King]

No, I'm not.

MPAA

[MrWa]

Under the terms of the deal, small Webcasters would pay a percentage of their revenues for broadcasts between 1998 and the end of 2002, increasing to 10 percent over the next two years, or 12 percent if the station's revenues exceeded $250,000.

What the webcasters need to do is somehow convince Congress that it makes more sense to base fees on profits and not revenues. Then, once they've done that, hire the MPAA accountants and - presto - there will suddenly be no profits left (after paying the DJ, the webcasting fees, hardware upgrade, new cars, etc.) to pay the RIAA.

Seems only fair to me...

Re:What a genuinely interesting dilemma.

[teamhasnoi]

Hitler is why we have the Volkwagen Beetle. That's good, unless you drive it in a Minnesota winter. Then its evil.

Simple.

Re:WCPE may be great, but that's not why he did it

[Dark Marmot]

The Religious Right, incredible as it may seem, can be the killer ally of the digital freedom movement, just like Stalin was in WWII.

Ahh yes, Stalin's 'digital freedom movement' rocked... only it was about the freedom to move one's digit on the trigger when facing hordes of conspirators.....

Re:What a genuinely interesting dilemma.

[SparkyMartin]

"I thought surely my stance of thinking both the RIAA and the Religious Right were both wrong..."

You know the saying: two wrongs make a right.

Re:It's a misprint

[MaryAlice]

But does he work for bananas?