Hillary Writes Me

By Restless [Originally on goofyblog 4.24.07]

I love internet radio. From the first, I would listen to stations outside the Bay Area (like kpig in Santa Cruz, jazz stations in San Diego and Tokyo, pirate radio outside the UK). Then there was live365, which allows individuals to broadcast and finally, pandora, which uses new software techniques to deliver tunes based on your likes and dislikes.

All this is now in jeopardy because of a government ruling that favors main line broadcast and will curtail web casting severely.

Recently, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) issued the significantly higher new royalty rates for Internet radio for the period. The ruling ignored webcasting community proposals.

[The new rates] effectively forc[e] Live365 to raise the minimum broadcasting fees to a level that would cause most small webcasters to discontinue their service thus silencing their stations. The CRB’s determination imperils small and large webcasters alike and threatens listening experiences of millions of Internet radio listeners.

Both live365 and pandora offer a means for listeners to voice their concern by automatically sending an e mail to one’s representative in Washington. For me, that happens to be Hillary Clinton. Here’s what she wrote back to me:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding the proposed new royalty rates for online radio. I always enjoy hearing from New Yorkers about challenging public policy issues that are important to them.

Online radio is a great example of how the Internet has helped to cultivate innovation and offered consumers access to new an d personalized information.

As you know, in March 2007 the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) proposed a new online radio royalty structure. The CRB has since announced that it will hear appeals of its previous ruling. Your concerns about this matter are significant and I hope that this period for appeal will enable the CRB to carefully consider points of view like yours.

Thank you again for sharing your concerns regarding these important Internet radio issues with me.

This letter says nothing. Years ago, when I wrote a letter to then-Senator Pete Wilson, his response was clear: he was not in agreement with me, thank you very much for writing. I have no idea where Hillary stands on this issue, but then it’s not clear where she stands on any issue. There is no there there with her.

Meanwhile, yesterday the CRB declined to amend its ruling.