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 Posted By: Jim Liddane on: 05/27/2009 19:38:05 EDTSubject: RE: What's This New Tax for Free Radio? |
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Ah yes....and where were these people a few years back when internet radio was forced by Congress to agree to this very same royalty? Terrestial radio stood idly by, in the hope that it would clobber internet radio. It didn't, and now it is their turn to suffer. Sounds like justice to me! And John - you keep calling it a "tax". I don't know about you, but to me, a tax is something you pay a government or state. What is being proposed now is simply a royalty being fought over between two private and very wealthy industries - the broadcasters and the record companies. Both sides want the state to take their side in this commercial dispute but frankly I think any government should simply wash its hands of both of them, and let each side take its chances in the open market. I mean, what is the government of any country getting involved in what is basically a financial transaction between two sets of greedy businessmen? At the end of the day, will you (or I) as a listener benefit either way? No. So what is any government sticking its nose into this for? I have always found it strange that the FCC was formed to "control" or "licence" radio in the USA - which boasts itself to be the freest of nations. Do you need a licence to run a newspaper? Do you need a licence to run a magazine? If not, why do you need a licence to run a radio station? And do not tell me about the airwaves being a valuable and limited resource. Rubbish. The rain forests are a valuable and limited resource, but no government has dared try to limit newspapers even though they cut down millions of trees each year to make newsprint. So why radio? Because when the US Goverment proposed "licensing" the expression of thought via the radio, the newspaper industry - fearful of the commercial potential of the new medium - let it happen. Years later, the radio industry - fearful of the power of rhe internet - allowed internet radio to be clobbered. But this time, it has rebounded on the radio industry. And I for one, could not care less. |
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