Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Digital Radio

Mark Lam, Chairman and CEO of Live365, will testify tomorrow at a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on digital radio entitled "Parity,Platforms and Protection: The Future of the Music Industry in the Digital Radio Revolution ". According to DiMA's website, Lam will discuss the challenges facing Internet radio and will urge the Committee to help create a level competitive playing field for broadcast, cable, satellite and Internet radio by:

- Legislating royalty and programming parity among all digital radio services

- Protecting recording artists and copyright owners from radio services that promote and profit from consumer recording of their programming

- Resolving the longstanding dispute over the meaning of "interactive service" so that consumers, online radio services and recording artists can maximize the benefits of blending Internet technology and radio programming.

It seems that Lam and others are hoping to amend the Copyright Act so that it no longer favors broadcast, cable and satellite radio...Perhaps it's time terrestrial broadcast radio pays their way like everyone else? Maybe then we'd get a quicker resolution :-)

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