Mary Wehmeier: On Real Radio

Sony Music Lobbies for Ban on Markers - By Brian Briggs

Sony Music Lobbies for Ban on Markers - By Brian Briggs

Washington DC - Ralph Hughes of Sony Music testified in the Senate today urging lawmakers to enact legislation which would ban felt tip markers. "These innocuous looking writing instruments are the scourge of our society," he said holding up a Sharpie. "Not only can this black stick of death be used to violate the DMCA, but it could also be used to write the instructions to incubate the anthrax virus."

Didn't I warn you this was going to happen?

CARP: It Ain't Over Yet

CARP: It is Not Over Yet

While Doc, David and everyone are doing the happy dance on LOC CARP Order. The reality check is: the party isn't over folks! CARP is not dead yet.

CARP is in the hands of the Registrar of the Library of Congress, Mary Beth Peters, and the IP lawyers of the LOC. Their mission is to use the "Wisdom of Solomon" and write a fair and reasonable version of what the webcasting rates should be.

Furthermore, I do hope Peters understood the webcaster's message at the Roundtable Meeting, and she is able to separate the passion from the potential compromise and solutions that were proposed, but sometimes were lost in the rhetoric of the day.

Should this new rate structure not be satisfactory to both RIAA/SoundExchange and the webcasters, it could all end up in the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals for a long and expensive court battle.

It's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

CARP is Rejected by Librarian of Congress 30 Day Clock is Now Ticking

Round 2: CARP is Rejected by Librarian of Congress 30 Day Clock is Now Ticking

Mary Beth Peters, Registrar of the Library of Congress and Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress issued the ORDER today at 10 AM Eastern Time rejecting the CARP webcasting rates presented on February 20, 2002. Now the LOC has 30 days to make their own Ruling on the matter which should be out on or before June 20, 2002.

It appears that the Public Roundtable held on May 10, and the flood of letters sent to the LOC made a definite impact on the decision makers (including the LOC and the Senate Judiciary Committee.) They learned first hand from the statements made to the LOC and Senate Committee that all webcasters, not only the large well funded ones, had not been given a fair and reasonable hearing. The LOC learned that if they adopted the Ruling of February 20, 2002 a considerable number of webcasters, including non-commercial and college webcasters, would have been put out of business.

By hurting the small independent webcaster who had been shut out of the Ruling process would have been a clear cut case of averting the wishes of the Judiciary Committees wishes by adversely hurting small business.

Passion clouds the facts: the other major item the Roundtable exposed the LOC to was the fact that RIAA and the Webcasters had come to some agreements on the entitlement of the artists to be paid something for their works, and agreement regarding the problems surrounding the original reporting requirements. The solutions are not clear cut, but the potential for compromises were set out at the Roundtable.

At this point we have a 30-day waiting period to see what the Librarian of Congress is going to rule.

From where I sit everyone needs to maintain our honest resolve for a long term solution. Most do not understand that this CARP ruling is only good for a 2 year period that is ENDING this year. We actually should be working on negotiating the next two year CARP rates now. But because this Order is precedence setting in order to establish rates, the new CARP II rates will end up being delayed until they have something concrete to discuss.

Hopefully RIAA and the Webcasters will get together to discuss some voluntary compromises as well. As Bill Goldsmith of KPIG.com and RadioParadise.com put it,

" The record labels can either play fair now - or be forced to by Congress and the Copyright Office."

Because if the Ruling is unsatisfactory to any of the parties, even after the Librarian of Congress issues it in June 2002, the new CARP rates could end up in the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals for a hearing.

A Bad, Sad Hollywood Ending: Don't vote for Hollings either

Business Week: A Bad, Sad Hollywood Ending. [Doc Searls Weblog]

Forget about Bill Gates, folks. The biggest enemy of free software may be Senator Ernest F. Hollings. Legislation introduced in March, 2002, by the South Carolina Democrat to require that copyright-protection software be embedded in PCs, handheld computers, CD players -- and anything else that can play, record, or manipulate data -- could make open-source software such as the Linux operating system illegal. Uh huh... Those of you in Hollings-homeland might want to review what we are planning to do to Feinstein's re-election plans and do the same in your neighborhood.

Senate Judiciary Committee held

Senate Judiciary Committee held "Copyright Royalties: Where is the Right Spot On The Dial For Webcasting. " hearings today in Washington, D.C..

The entire hearing was webcast. Links to the webcast are on the announcement page.

Senator Orran Hatch and Patrick Leahy made remarks.

The cast of characters testifying include:
Ms. Hilary Rosen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Recording Industry Association of America, Washington, DC
Mr. Jon Potter, Executive Director, The Digital Media Association, Washington, DC
Mr. Bill Rose, VP and General Manager of Webcast Services, Arbitron, New York, NY
Mr. Frank Schliemann, Founder, Onion River Radio, Montpelier, VT
Mr. Billy Straus, President, Websound.com, Brattleboro, VT
Dan Navarro, Artist, American Federation Of Television and Radio Artists, New York, NY

Give a listen to the webcast which starts about 20 minutes into the webcast because of Senator Hatch being delayed.

There is a considerable amount of Point of View information in this hearing. Comments?

Trade Groups File Friend of the Court Briefs About Viewer Tracking

Trade Groups File Friend of the Court Briefs About Viewer Tracking - The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), and Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) filed the Friend of the Court Brief, noting that the judge's order establishes a harmful "principle of judicial intervention in technology design."

The leading high tech trade associations has criticized a District Court order that requires interactive television companies to track the viewing behavior of their customers. The group filed an amici brief today in the case of Paramount Pictures Corporation et al. versus Replay TV, Inc. et al.

"When the courts take on the role of software engineer, software engineers and consumers need to start worrying. Not only is the potential for unintended consequences extremely high, but the decision also sets dangerous precedents. In a time when consumer 'trust' is central to industry success, forcing companies to abandon their contracts with consumers could be catastrophic. In addition, such court-ordered redesign could effectively bankrupt smaller technology companies with limited resources. With so much at stake for the industry and consumers, it is disturbing that the court would take this decision so lightly," said Jonathan Zuck, president of the Association for Competitive Technology.

A copy of the brief is available on the web here.

Clueless Hollywood: The State of The Very Rich and Uninformed

Clueless Hollywood: The State of The Very Rich and Uninformed

"The clue train stopped there four times a day for ten years and they never took delivery."
— Veteran of a firm now free-falling out of the Fortune 500 - Cluetrain Website

This past week as marked several events which are showing everyone in the technology world just how uninformed the Hollywood executive set are.

Mom always said, "Money is no replacement for an education or experience." And damn she was so right! The recent rounds of Senate Subcommittee meetings and townhall meetings, Roundtable meeting and articles, stories and press releases in the media involving CARP and the DMCA show us just how little they know and how dangerous this lack-a-knowledge can really be.

From where I sit it's long overdue for these Hollywood executives to get an education or stop playing dumb. They can't have it both ways.

For years Hollywood has been courting the computer industry in an effort to make the work and costs of productions better and cheaper. The courting and wooing of Silicon Valley and the technical centers of this country by Hollywood was a past time that has gone on for the past 15 or more years. I know because I was there. I have been a designer, witness and a participant to the process.

Over 12 years ago I wrote up a short paper on the Convergence of Digital Media outlining in general details the use of computers and digital storage for audio, video and film transfer. I outlined how peer-to-peer direct connection products could and would make it possible for someone like me, who hates the drive in and out of LA, would be able to work from my home studio with others in their home studios all by way of a proper high-speed internet connection. Nearly everything but "finaling" a piece could be done in this manner. This would save vast amounts of production costs and make it possible for work to be done by the best people wherever they were living. .

For me it was ideal and from my point of view the idea was nothing remarkable. The concept was just a logical extension of the way I had worked before on parts of a production using the internet or closed network service. I had done it before-- but we'd really never told anyone. We just did it and kept our word that nothing would ever get out into the public were it didn't belong.

However when I published the paper online, you would have thought I'd committed blasphemy.

Why? Because I dared to take the "control" of a production out of the realm of the "post house." I was advocating that editors, special effects people and directors could work better remotely and alone in the post production process without the direct supervision and control of a post house. Post houses who are very highly capitalized digital editing facilities rent a considerable amount of space to production companies while producing a television, audio or film product saw this "idea" as a threat to their gravytrain and did nearly everything possible to kill it.

Or so they thought. ...And the Hollywood executives remained clueless by choice.

Byting the Hand the Feeds You

Over the past several years, since I vowed never to drive into LA again for work, I've taken projects that allow me to edit only if I can do the work remotely in my bunny slippers at home. Meetings are normally over the phone and occasional trips into the studios are made for the important, but rare, face to face meeting. And I'm not the only one doing it! Literally hundreds of video, film and audio professionals work everyday at home recording, tweaking, cutting and logging thousands of hours of music, film, graphics and video from the sanity of their home or home studio in an environment where they want to work-- and work very productively.

Over 75% of the tools we use are stock, off the shelf software and compression codecs, like Mp3s and video formats. And we transfer our work to one another by FedEx or using the internet.

The funny thing is: every DMCA crazed Hollywood executive knows we do it. So how do you propose we put the genie back into the bottle?

There isn't a beancounter in LA who will tell an executive straightfaced that we remote-working folks aren't saving Hollywood money. Between us and the Vancouver productions, we are the reasons why Hollywood has been laying off the large in-house staff people who once ran up their payroll. The exec's like Eisner love that we use this technology to give him better profit lines.

So who's he kidding? Oh yeah-- it's a matter of control.

Eisner and his Hollywood cronies want to control who has the technology. That who is YOU the customer. It's a shame he still hasn't learned the lesson on how to put the genie back into the bottle. Because-- you can't.

Comments?

Doc's view of the Copyrighteous Gathering

Doc Searls Weblog Reports: A gathering of the copyrighteous

Declan is circulating a '"celebration" of the DMCA on May 16 in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. Hosted by Jack Valenti, Hilary Rosen and chiefs of various publishing, film and other organizations in the business of advocating the maximal leverage of intellectual property law. The "invited guests" include ... what is that, the Judiciary Committee? Biden, Hatch, Helms, Leahy, Coble, Berman, Conyers, Dingle, Hyde, Frank, Markey, Sensenbrenner and Tauzin. Plus Ambassadors from 33 countries, none, oddly, in downtown Europe.

Not you, me, or any artists, writers, film makers and other first sources of "content."

No lie. From the invitation list it appears to be a Who's Who of the Clueless. If they were to invite us, it might surprise them to learn the real truth. Heaven forbid.

Round 2: Webcasters Meet with Industry at CARP Roundtable Today

Round 2: Webcasters Meet with Industry at CARP Roundtable Today

Today a historic meeting is taking place inwhich the webcasters and recording industry officials are meeting in a Roundtable Discussion with the Library of Congress' CARP panel. The meetings will take place all day long from 9 AM to 5 PM in Washington DC. The International Webcasters Association in cooperation with TVWorldwide.com will be streaming the entire meeting to the internet.

To find the connection, please log into http://www.tvworldwide.com/event_iwa_020509.cfm and click on the "Click here for Live Video" icon. Should you be unable to hear the webcast live, they will archive the days events and put them online for replay later in the day.

Panel Speakers for the US Copyright Office Roundtable are:

Panel I Reporting to Determine Royalty Allocation	Panel II Reporting to Monitor Compliance with Terms of License	Panel III Small Businesses
Future of Music Coalition (Jenny Toomey)	Music Choice (Amy Bushyeager)	WCPE (Deborah Proctor)
Recording Industry Association of America (Steve Marks or other)	DMX Music, Inc. (Barry Knittel)	Arbitron (Joan FitzGerald)
SoundExchange (John Simson or other)	Muzak (Chuck Walker)	Spacial AudioSolutions (Bryan Payne)
Digital Media Association (Jonathan Potter or other)	Digital Media Association (Jonathan Potter or other)	RAS Records (Gary Himelfarb)
National Association of Broadcasters et al. (Bruce Joseph)	Yahoo! (Alex Maghen)	Collegiate Broadcasters, Inc. (Will Robedee)
Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (Frederick Kass or William Malone)	Ultimate 80s (Dave Landis)	Future of Music Coalition (Brian Zisk)
ASCAP (Sam Mosenkis or Chris Amenita)	iM Radio (MaryMcCann)	SoundExchange (John Simson or other)
Websound (Glen Fisher)	XM Satellite Radio & Sirius Satellite Radio (Bruce Joseph)	Massanutten Broadcasting System, Inc. (David Eshleman)
American Federation of Musicians (Patricia Polach)	Recording Industry Association of America (Steve Marks or other)	University of Louisiana at Monroe/KXUL (Joel Willer)
Beethoven.com (Kevin Shively)	SoundExchange (John Simson or other)	RAIN Publications (Kurt Hanson or Paul Maloney)
Yahoo! (Alex Maghen)	American Federation of Musicians (Patricia Polach)	International Webcasting Association (Peggy Miles)
Radio Computing Services, Inc. (Elliot Mazer)	Clear Channel (Brian Parsons or Karyn Ablin)	American Federation of Musicians (Patricia Polach)
3WK LLC (Wanda Atkinson)	Twangcast.com (Michael Hays)	Digitally Imported Radio (Gary Dobek)
MediaUnbound, Inc. (Michael Papish)	International Webcasters Association (Brad Pumphrey)	Radioio.com (Mike Roe)
DMX Music, Inc. (Barry Knittel)	IBC (Joseph Buczynski)	Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Martin Gelfand)

CARP - Webcasters Town Meeting in Washington D.C.

CARP - Webcasters Town Meeting in Washington D.C.

IWA dedicated the second in a series of on-line Worldwide Town Meetings of Webcasters to the implications of the Copyright Office recommendations known as CARP that was webcasted live today from Washington, D.C. The broadcast was made possible by various sponsors and the assistance of TVWorldwide.com who is hosting the webcasts.

The Archived Webcast in Real Format is available by clicking here. The Webcast is 3hrs and 18 minutes long

From where I sit, this is one of the most important webcasts ever done to date. This webcast answers many of the questions and explains in plain language what will happen to webcasting if CARP is adopted in its current form.

There are five panel sessions in the webcast

1:00-1:15 PM Welcome and opening remarks
Introduction of Sponsors

Dave Gardy, TVWorldwide.com
Susan Pickering, Executive Director, IWA

1:15-2:00 PM Overview of CARP and Royalty Issues and State of the Webcast Industry
What is the big picture and what is at stake?

Moderator Peggy Miles, Intervox
Panelists David Lawrence, Radio Host On-Line Tonight
Roger Dean Lehman Bros., Chairman IWA
Heather Shay-Peters, Radiodelray.com
David Landis, Ultimate 80's
John Simson Sound Exchange

2:00-2:30 PM Legal and Regulatory Facts Surrounding CARP
Where are we in the process and how does it work?

Moderator Dave Oxenford, Shaw Pittman
Panelists Karin Ablin, Wiley Rein & Felding
Dineen Wasylik, Wiley Rein & Felding
TBD

2:30-3:00 PM Technology Issues and the State-of-the-Art in the Webcasting Industry
What technologies are changing the face of webcasting?

Moderator Dave Gardy, TVWorldwide.com
Panelists Ken Santucci, Amprod
Mark Maxey TVWorldwide.com, formerly with Digital Island, Akamai
Doug Wyllie Streaming Magazine

3:00-4:00 PM The Call to Action: What the Webcasting Industry Must do Next
What Now?

Moderator Peggy Miles, Intervox
Panelists Dave Oxenford, Shaw Pittman
Steve Wolf, Professional Products
Dave Gardy, TVWorldwide.com
David Lawrence, Radio Host On-Line Tonight
Heather Shay-Peters, Radiodelray.com
Bill Goldsmith, Radio Paradise.com
Steve Wolf, WOLF FM Radio.com

Interactive Town Hall Meeting of Webcasters May 9 1PM-4 PM EDT

Make Sushi out of CARP!

Reminder: International Webcasting Association to Rally Membership on Copyright Controversy with Two Webcasts, Live from Washington DC TVWorldwide.com Tapped to Stream Interactive Town Hall Meeting of Webcasters May 9, 1PM-4 PM EDT and Coverage of U.S. Copyright Office Roundtable May 10 9AM-5PM EDT - For the entire press release click here!

Webcasting Information on CARP ROUNDTABLE

While I rarely reprint press releases directly this one is important. Please spread the word.

TVWORLDWIDE.COM - PRESS RELEASE

International Webcasting Association to Rally Membership on Copyright Controversy with Two Webcasts, Live from Washington DC TVWorldwide.com Tapped to Stream Interactive Town Hall Meeting of Webcasters May 9, and Coverage of U.S. Copyright Office Roundtable May 10

For Immediate Release
Contact: Beverly O'Brien TV Worldwide.com, Inc. Beverly@tvworldwide.com www.tvworldwide.com
(703) 961-9250 Ext. 222

Susan Pickering International Webcasting Association Spickering@webcasters.org www.webcasters.org
(866) 274-1732 ext 2690

Chantilly, Va. - Deploying the very technology that gave birth to the industry it represents, The International Webcasting Association (IWA), in cooperation with TVWorldwide.com announced a joint effort to produce two webcasts on important copyright issues that may change the face of the webcast industry. In an effort to unite and inform its members and the webcasting industry at large, the IWA will dedicate the second in a series of on-line Worldwide Town Meetings of Webcasters to the implications of the Copyright Office recommendations. This will be webcast on May 9 from 1PM-4 PM EDT. This will be followed the next day with live coverage of the U.S. Copyright Office's important roundtable discussion on the proposed guidelines for webcasters to give the required notice of copyrighted material they webcast and to maintain webcast records. The roundtable will be held May 10 from 9AM-5PM EDT.

Both webcasts will originate from Washington D.C. and be freely available at www.webcasters.org and www.tvworldwide.com. Event sponsors include Streaming Magazine, the nationally syndicated "On-Line Tonight" radio show featuring David Lawrence and other sponsors currently lining up to support the webcasts.

Visitors to the live Worldwide Town Meeting of Webcasters will be able to post questions to the panel and participate by submitting questions and comments chat and e-mail, thus providing a fully interactive forum for those unable to attend or who are simply interested in learning more about the issues.

Roger Dean, Chairman of the IWA said, "We're excited to be able to bring our industry together for these important events in a format that actually showcases the benefits from webcasting. We've again teamed with TVWorldwide.com to webcast the event because of their vast expertise in streaming successful interactive events via Internet TV."

"This is a defining moment for our industry," stated Susan Pickering, Executive Director of the IWA stated. "We're demonstrating the potential of the very medium we work in every day as we create awareness of these issues. Its crucial to ensure our membership and all webcasters have access to the process taking place surrounding the copyright issues."

"We're pleased to work with the IWA on this historical first in streaming video," stated Dave Gardy, Chairman and CEO of TVWorldwide.com. "We're getting a huge response to these events nationally and the U.S. Copyright Office has been very responsive in working with us to facilitate coverage of the roundtable. We look forward to once again working with the IWA as they practice what they preach in utilizing webcasts to serve their membership."

The 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) established that webcasters must pay "performance rights" fees to record labels for the music they play and instructed the Copyright Office to set the appropriate rate, which turned the matter over to a Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP) to propose what those rates should be. Industry observers have pointed out that the CARP's recommended rates are significantly more than 100% of most webcasters gross revenues. The Librarian of Congress has until May 21, 2002 to decide whether to accept, reject or modify the CARP's findings.

"If they accept the CARP panel's recommendation, many observers believe that the decision will effectively kill Internet Radio as an industry, as the decision could bankrupt all but the three or four largest webcasters," commented Pickering.

The event will be compressed and archived for viewing at www.webcasters.org and www.tvworldwide.com. Participants should have the free Real Player installed and should log on 15 minutes prior to each event. Questions can be directed to 703-961-9250, ext 223 before and during the events.

As a leading streaming video applications service provider, TVWorldwide.com is developing a network of video channels that is an affiliation of community-based Internet television stations, each underwritten by a strategic partner, "aimcastingsm" to targeted B2B and special interest demographic audiences worldwide. TVWorldwide.com works with strategic partners to develop the latest in live and archived state-of-the art video streaming content applications. TVWorldwide.com was recently named one of the streaming video industry's "Hottest Streaming Companies" by Streaming Magazine, www.streamingmagazine.com.

The International Webcasting Association (IWA) is a worldwide non-profit trade organization dedicated to the growth and development of the art, technology and commerce of webcasting and streaming media over the Internet and other networks. The IWA, headquartered in Washington, DC ( www.webcasters.org ), represents members throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada and Australia. The IWA works to keep members informed, connected, and better prepared for the changes that are an integral part of the technology.

Why Internet Streaming is Important to Me: Local News

Why Internet Streaming is Important to Me: Local News

After 9-11 I signed up for the free e-warn system a weather warning service and for e-News service offered free by WQAD-TV channel 8 (the ABC affiliate) for area surrounding my hometown. Tornados and severe weather are a constant concern in the rural areas, and because I travel a lot it's always good to know what's happening at the house in Illinois. So I signed up a couple months ago and other than getting a couple pages important news stories I never gave it much thought.

And then the morning of Friday, May 3, 2002 hit.

The insane over-egoed bastard who was putting pipebombs and letters in rural mailboxes did his dirty work in the area in and around my hometown. This is an area of the Midwest where the worst thing you're likely to find is a bag of dog shit in your mail box if you tick off a neighbor, but this insane bastard had seriously injured several mail carriers and local residents.

About an hour before the national news picked up the story e-news started tripping off my pager with notices on my cell phone.

Good Afternoon, Mary , WQAD.com has these latebreaking details:
Explosive devices found in several rural mailboxes across QCA.
MORE DETAILS AT WQAD.COM
CLICK HERE

It immediately got my attention. Because I wasn't on the road I went to my computer and immediately went to WQAD's site to get the latest breaking news from Matt Hamill, one of their reporters. Had I been on the road I'd have engaged my cell phone's web browser and got the news.

WQAD had streamed the breaking news on their site. It was good, but I wanted more news. I was sitting some 2000 miles from Illinois and the wire services hadn't broke the story yet. While WQAD alerted me to the news. But I wanted more.

So I went over to another local television station KWQC's Channel 6 (the NBC Affiliate's) site because I knew the KWQC site streams ALL OF THEIR NEWSCASTS and archives them for one week online. (Scroll down the entire page.) I was in time for the local Noon news, and hit the LIVE ON THE AIR icon and went directly into the news, as if I were sitting in the kitchen table in Illinois.

This is the type of delivery system that makes sense. I was completely connected. I got all the who-what-where-when information in about 15 minutes. Okay so KWQC's webcast is a tiny picture, and chops off the commerical in order to get around the SAG-AFTRA thing. No big deal. I get the news streamed to me anywhere any time. That is exactly what KWQC delivered.

But then I wanted to listen to the local buzz and thought I should plug into the local radio stations: First up WOC-AM. The oldest radio station in the area and a news-information-talk format. They should have what I wanted to hear... ut-oh!

It wasn't what I expected. Since Clear Channel recently purchased several of the major local radio stations they have taken WOC-AM and all their other radio stations off the web. Okay guys what gives?

WOC is a talk station. Don't give me the CARP arguement! They don't play music. So what's the deal? Chopping the commericals is no big deal! Go talk to WOCTV... er KWQC-TV . God knows someone local could show you how to do it!

It would have given me great comfort to listen to Jim Fisher, Jim Albracht and Mark Minnick and hear what they were thinking. I've known Fisher over 25 years, and he is a wonderful common sense oriented local broadcaster. Jim has an excellent following and a very loyal group of listeners. The Quad Cities is very fortunate to have him there and I would have loved to hear what Fisher had to say.

In summary:

The e-weather and e-news alerts are excellent if you need to be aware of local information, especially when traveling. They know how to deliver short, distinct pages with enough information. WQAD and their service provider gets Excellent marks for their service. However I'd like to have had more streaming video or at least audio of the news on your site.

KWQC gets stellar marks for delivering streaming video of news as it happened online. It was up 99% of the time I logged in, and I haven't missed a broadcast since Friday afternoon.

And as for Clear Channel-- what you have done to my local radio stations is insane. You have taken my ability to get local radio news and information away from me... and your advertisers. (I still purchase a hell of a lot of things when I'm in Illinois.) Fire up the damn streaming servers again and get the local news and information back on the web!

[Bill Wundram Quad City Times Columnist, Davenport, Iowa reports about Reagan Marker

[Bill Wundram Columnist for the Quad City Times Davenport, Iowa reports: ]

Talk moves ahead, I’ve been told, for that long-overdue marker on the spot where Ronald Reagan lived in Davenport, [Iowa] at 4th and Perry, the old Vale Apartments, then known as Perry Apartments and now a parking lot. A wet-behind-the-ears Reagan landed his first paying job — an announcer on WOC — while in an $18 a month flat in the place. For reasons unexplained, I’ve received checks for $50 and $25 from backers to help pay for a marker. They’ve been duly sent to hizzoner, Mayor Charlie. There is even talk of a Reagan Walk, on the hills he daily meandered to go to work. Good idea.

I agree about the marker. And while we're at it-- has anyone up at 805 Brady Street got off their butts and dug out all the Reagan Tapes for archive?

The Shifted Librarian Reports: The Mercury Theatre on the Air

[The Shifted Librarian Reports] I'm not sure how Ernest knew that both my brother, father, and I would be fascinated by The Mercury Theatre on the Air, but I thank him heartily for the link!

"All of the surviving Mercury Theatre shows are available from this page, in both streaming and downloadable RealAudio format. (MP3s are also available for some shows.) There are several Campbell Playhouse episodes available here as well; the rest are being added gradually."

I just took a look. The site is WONDERFUL! It's a great start at making the great radio stories of the early days of radio available online. The site owner is completely clued in-- by making the stories available as a stream or download, so you can take them to listen on your mp3 players. I give it 4 stars

From Where I Sit: May 1, 2002 - A Day of Silence

From Where I Sit

Dave's mentioned in Scripting today about the USA Today article where many webcasters are going to go silent on Wednesday May 1, 2002, in protest to the Copyright Office's CARP recommendations.

I support them 100%.

For those of you who have been sleeping under a rock, let me bring you up to speed. The Copyright Office has made recommendations, which resembles a Hillary Rosen - RIAA gift list, to set the fees webcasters would pay for playing any recorded music over the internet. These fee would be based upon the number songs played x the of users. Without giving you a lesson in high mathmatics, the short answer is the amount of revenue these fees would require many webcasters to pay would put about 90% of the webcasters out of business in short order.

At a gathering of webcasters at the recent NAB2002, many webcasters expressed deep concerns that if the CARP recommendations were enacted they would not only put most webcasters out of business, but deeply in debt that would never be able to be repaid, because the CARP fees are retroactive.

This was a legislation was supposed to encourage business growth and give a level playing field to the industry not kill it.

According to SaveInternetRadio.org

"Most webcasters are planning the May 1st "Day of Silence" to begin at dawn in their time zone and end in late evening. Some webcasters plan to go entirely silent, while others plan to replace their music streams with periods of silence interspersed with public service announcements on the subject. (Some webcasters also plan to broadcast or direct listeners to an all-day talk show on the issues produced by WOLF FM's Steve Wolf.)

Webcasters that will be participating in the "Day of Silence" include the majority of the top-rated independent webcasters, including AllDanzRadio (various formats), Choice Radio (various formats), ChronixRadio (rock), ClevelandHits.com (CHR), CyberRadio2000 (various formats), Digitally Imported (various forms of electronica), HardRadio (rock), iNetProgramming (bluegrass and other formats), Internet Radio Hawai'i (Hawaiian music), KING-FM/Seattle (classical), KPIG/Freedom, CA (Americana), M4Radio (indie rock), Mostly Classical (classical), Radio Paradise (AAA), Radioio (AAA) and RAIN Radio (several formats).

Other webcasters planning to participate include SomaFM (electronica), 3WK (alternative), TwangTownUSA (country), Twangcast (country), Ultimate-80s (Eighties), Village Voice Radio (eclectic), WCSB/Cleveland (various), WICB-FM (Ithica College), and WOLF FM (70s-80s-90s).

Webcasters who may not go silent but who plan to support the effort with heavy schedules of PSAs (that will include a moment of silence — e.g., "Here's what Internet radio may sound like on May 22nd...") include Beethoven.com (classical), Live365.com (various formats), ClassicalMusicDetroit (classical), Shoutcast (various formats), Winamp Radio (various formats), and numerous other college and noncommercial webcasters. "

BurnItNow - EMI & Liquid Audio Offer an Online Music Service

LA Times reported on Monday... That EMI and Liquid Audio have started a new CD Music/Burning service called BurnitFirst.com

"EMI and Liquid Audio today are expected to roll out the first online music service from a major record company that trusts consumers not to share the music they buy with pirates."

"The service, called BurnItFirst, has two features unique among major-label offerings online: The songs can be kept permanently, and they all can be recorded onto a CD. Although the songs have electronic locks to deter copying, those locks vanish as soon as the music burns onto a disc."

In the beginning the burnitfirst service will be limited to EMI's Christian Music catalogue and the subscription will be $10 for 20 songs per month.

"Consumers have spoken loudly. They want to have the freedom to burn music," Jay Samit, VP of new media said. "We have no problem with that. We just want to make sure our artists can make a living from music and are compensated for that."

Well imagine that!

NOW With Bill Moyers

[TheShiftedLibarian is reporting] NOW With Bill Moyers
Why are radio stations starting to sound the same? Tune in to find out.

Don't touch that dial! But would it matter if you did? NOW explores the impact of media consolidation

Also Featured

Does big radio restrict your choice of music? NOW investigates.
Cable conglomeration and you

In Chicago, this show will be airing on WTTW on tonight at 9:00 p.m.

LPFM is Now One Year Old

LPFM is Now One Year Old: LPFM: Low Power FM is grassroots non-commerical community broadcasting. Radio World's Naina N. Chernoff reports on the LPFM Rollout Creepings Along Issues Still Need Resolution by FCC Before Service Is Finalized.

Is This Cat Really a Dog?

Here's something for Ralph Brandi over at ThereIsNoCat: Steve Lampen over at Radio World Online has written an article called: "Is This Cat Really a Dog?" The article deals with helping Broadcast Engineers tell the difference between data cables without a a degree in cable engineering. Complete with a datatable. It's a keeper.

Philips Electronics Weighs in on Content Protection - CBDTPA and DCMA

Philips Electronics Weighs in on CBDTPA and DCMA

Did I tell you the other day about companies not agreeing on standards? Yep right here.

Today the rubber-met-the-road in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, where they are held hearing on "Ensuring Content Protection in the Digital Age." The invitations list of people testifying read like a who's who* (below) of the rich and powerful insiders within the Entertainment, Internet, and Technology Industries. [Too bad I didn't get invited. I would have loved to given the Committee a piece of my mind from the standpoint of the educated consumer. ]

However it appears we may have a champion on our side. Today appearing at the hearing, Philips Consumer Electronics North America, President and CEO Lawrence Blanford testified that something's rotten in Hollywood. Blanford explained to the Committee in plain language about the problems being created by the 5C Group who are working together to create Digital Content Protection System for digital video and audio. Blanford representing Philips and customers everywhere, explained that if the current standards being created by the 5C Group were allowed to become a standard in order to support the DMCA and other intellectual property laws, "the customer would suffer by having to replace their DVD players in order to watch digital TV programs they have all ready recorded."

In a copy of his prepared statement before the Committee, I received today, Blanford went even further to explain that the Broadcast Protection Discussion Group (AKA the 5C Group made up of Hitachi, Intel, Matsushita (Panasonic & JVC,) Sony and Toshiba are planning an expensive, proprietary encryption program that will interface individually and within the proposed IEEE 1394 (Firewire) home-network standard to block the consumers ability to copy any video or audio program they may wish to use later. Blanford stated:

"Because this proposal would require encryption in the home of free over-the-air digital television broadcasts, and because this proposal would place in the hands of a few companies control of all consumer electronics devices through private, contractual licensing arrangements, Philips believes that the current direction is seriously flawed."

Just lovely. So now we have the big companies cavorting in some engineering study groups deciding how WE the consumer will get to enjoy our soap operas and reruns of MASH, ER and Sesame Street or music after we come home from a long day at work. Flipping lovely. This is all because groups like RIAA and the DMCA have been allowed to run without a bridle.

Clue to Congress: Wait until women who record their soap operas everyday, so they can watch them when they get home from work, figure out this new technology is going to make that impossible. Remember women vote in larger percentages than men. Can you say ticked off voters? Uh huh.

While Blanford admits in testimony that the Philips understands the necessity to balance the the rights between copy holder and the customer. (Philips actually has some of the best broadcast equipment in the business.) Philips has also worked to create a standard which prohibits the direct illegal copying of video tapes through their "Serial Copy Management System," as well as several "watermarking protocols." However Blanford also explained that despite the millions of dollars of development costs involved: Philips gave the "Serial Copy Management System," away for FREE to other companies for the asking.

Blanford continued his comments by also explaining to the committee that Philips supports:

"Consumers’ fair use rights must be preserved in any technical or public policy solutions to digital age challenges
Backward compatibility has been the backbone of the consumer electronics industries’ product designs.
Consumers react negatively and very strongly when their expectations for fair use and ease of use are not met.
Ever increasing levels of complexity in consumers’ devices will render products increasingly unreliable, more expensive and will constrain consumer activities.
User Friendliness is a hallmark of CE (Consumer Electronics) products."

Blanford believes that the customer "should not bear the costs, in dollar terms and in terms of technological complexity, when there are much simpler solutions to the agreed upon problem—the prospect of Internet redistribution of digital terrestrial broadcasts."

Amazing. Someone's actually talking common sense here.

What the working groups have been proposing is that the digital television signal would have to carry a special code (or tone) within the upper data section of the transmission that would, no must be decoded, in order for people to be able to use. (For those of you inside the 'Biz, they want to encode more into the all ready crammed "front porch" of the signal. Nice huh? My question is WHERE?) The other group wants to encrypt it once inside the home, makes it impossible to copy or move without permission. And probably a fee. They are all forgetting "fair use."

As you can see none of the companies are really agreeing on what's the right thing to do-- or not do. However, it's comforting to know that Ken Blanford and Philips are on the customer's side on this issue. I just might go buy a Philips DVD player.

-----

* Invitation to testify was also given to: Dr. Paul F. Liao - Chief Technology Officer, Panasonic/Matshushita Electric Corporation of America, Mr. Richard Parsons - Co-Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Richard Parsons Co-Chief Operating Officer, AOL Time Warner Inc., Mr. Larry Jacobson - President and Chief Operating Officer, RealNetworks, Mr. Joe Kraus - Co-founder Digitalconsumer.org, Mr. Peter Chernin - President and Chief Operating Officer of NewsCorporation, Mr. Assaf Litai - Founder and Acting CEO Vidius.

Copies of all the transcripts andthe real audio file will be here shortly.

This just in: Jack Valenti Invents Internet3!

[The Shifted Librarian] This just in: Jack Valenti Invents Internet3!

"Then there is the mysterious magic of being able, with a simple click of a mouse, to send a full-length movie hurtling with the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) to any part of this wracked and weary old planet."

Consumers respond: we don't want your movies, even at the speed of light. Which, we're not sure how we would really watch at that speed anyway.

Maybe this is a new form of copyright protection since there are no technologies available to record movies transmitted at that speed....

Jeeze. I feel an editorial coming on...

Wylie Gustafson is really Yahooing over Yahoo Settlement

Wylie Gustafson is really Yahooing over Yahoo Settlement

[CNN is reporting.] Wylie Gustafson, singer of Yahoo the internet portal's trademark yodel, finally settles with Yahoo for undisclosed sum, but he says "...it will keep his horses fed for the winter with a little left over."

VO people imagine: You're asked to VO a little yodel for an unknown start-up company who wants a non-union VO artist to jazz up their commercial. Pay $590 for a one time use. Not bad by most standards today, but when Wylie Gustafson heard his distinct yodel on Super Bowl and repeated in many commerials for internet giant Yahoo, Wylie wasn't ah-yahoo-ing. So Wylie filed suit in federal court against Yahoo and starteding talking with every radio and television station in the country. Well, finally T. Semel, Yahoo's Chmn./CEO heard about the news and ordered a quick settlement. Nice to see a company do the right thing. Bad it had to take a lawsuit to get them to settle.

Proceedings, Papers and Webcasts at NAB 2002

Proceedings, Papers and Webcasts at NAB 2002

Interested in Broadcasting? The following papers and positions were presented at NAB2002 and are available online for a limited amount of time as a download:

NAB2001 Digital Video Production Workshop Presentations (PDF)
(All are PDF Files and require Adobe Acrobat.)

Nonlinear Editing Techniques	4.51 MB
Cameras: How To Get The Most From Them	2.29 MB
Digital Cinema: HD in Production and Exhibition	1.84 MB
Video Production Automation: A Guerrilla Approach	688 kb

NAB2001 Broadcast Engineering Conference Proceedings Excerpts* (PDF)
(All are PDF Files and require Adobe Acrobat.)

Management of the Aspect Ratio Transition	263 kb
5.1 Channel Audio Update	912 kb
An Experimental 60 fps Progressive-Scan HTDV Camera	492 kb
Virtual Reality for Online Broadcast	597 kb
The Challenges of Indoor DTV Reception	126 kb
Getting The Picture	71 kb
Future-Proofing Set-Top Boxes	893 kb

*Excerpted from the NAB2001 Broadcast Engineering Conference Proceedings.

NAB2001 Broadcast Engineering Conference Session MP3 Downloads
(All are MP3 files.)

DTV Production Challenges: Part 1	18.4 MB
DTV Production Challenges: Part 2	17.5 MB
Radio Transmitters: Part 1	17.2 MB
Radio Transmitters: Part 2	9.2 MB
A New Era For AM Directional Antenna Proofs	18.5 MB
DTV Receivers, Displays and Set-Top Boxes: Part 1	18.3 MB
DTV Receivers, Displays and Set-Top Boxes: Part 2	18.1 MB
DTV Receivers, Displays and Set-Top Boxes: Part 3	9.1 MB

The International Webcasting Association a service organization to the webcasting industry and TVWorldwide.com, a web-based global TV network and streaming video service provider webcasted live from NAB2002 and the NABXstream Conference. The Archived convention events are found here.

NAB2002 Crystal Radio Award Winners And Orkin Inducted Into Radio Hall of Fame

NAB2002 Crystal Radio Award Winners

The top radio stations in the USA this year are: (Top row, left to right) John Davison, KABC, Los Angeles, CA; Cal Hall, WJON,St. Cloud, MN ; Bob Breck, KNCO, Grass Valley, CA; Bruce Agler, KWJJ, Portland, OR. (Bottom row, left to right) Bill McElveen, WTCB, Columbia, SC; Sandy Collins, WLQT, Dayton, OH; Donna Renae, KIRO, Seattle, WA; Susan Nguyen, KPAM, Portland, OR; Drew Horowitz, WTMX, Chicago, IL. (Credit NAB)

LAS VEGAS, NV, April 9, 2002 - The National Association of Broadcasters has named the ten winners of the NAB Crystal Radio Award competition. Established in 1987, the NAB Crystal Radio Award recognizes radio stations' efforts to improve the quality of life in their surrounding communities. The stations listed above were selected from a pool of 50 finalists.

"The stations we honor today go well above the call of duty in serving their individual communities," said NAB President & CEO Edward O. Fritts. "NAB salutes these ten broadcasters for their commitment to localism and exemplary public service."

The awards were presented during the Radio Luncheon, sponsored by ASCAP, at NAB's annual spring convention. Keith Reinhard, DDB Worldwide Communications Group, Inc., gave the keynote address.

The luncheon also featured the induction of radio personality and producer, Dick Orkin (of Chickenman fame) from "The Famous Radio Ranch", into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame. In a short conversation with Dick, he told me they're releasing a set of every one of the Chickenman episode ever done on-air for the 2002 holidays. If you want to get in line for the one of these CD's, email him here. For more about Dick's start in radio read this.

NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame
Inductee Dick Orkin (center) with David Kennedy (left) and Eddie Fritts (right) (Credit NAB)