Music to our Ears: Internet Radio Fairness Coalition Launched Today
Today, the Internet Radio Fairness Coalition was launched to support the Internet Radio Fairness Act. CCIA President and CEO has an op-ed in the Hill today, explaining:
Innovation does not happen in a vacuum, especially in the innovative technology industries. So when one form of technology is held back, especially by burdensome government regulations, all technology innovation runs the risk of becoming stifled.
In September, Matt had a great post on “Why Internet Radio Has A Bad Deal” explaining a lot of these issues and the historical context. As Matt pointed out, and Techdirt later picked up, the Copyright Act literally says: “to minimize any disruptive impact on the structure of the industries involved and on generally prevailing industries practices.” (17 U.S.C. 801(b)(2)(D)). As Matt noted:
That’s right: employees of the U.S. Government who dictate price inputs for entire industries are statutorily charged to resist change.
Go check out Matt’s must-read post for an explanation of these issues.