Internet Radio Update

Not much of an update on the internet radio mess here, but I do have a couple of observations:

1. The honorable Mr. Doggett (TX-25) did finally get back to me in April (a month after I wrote him), stating that he would "keep [my] concerns in mind as this matter continues to develop." This, from what I can tell, is code for "ignore until enough other people bug me about it," as Mr. Doggett does not appear on the list of co-sponsors of the House bill to vacate the CRB's decision, shown on this site. (He can be bugged here.)

2. (Hat tip: Instapundit, as if he needs it) My former (until the latest gerrymandering) representative, Lamar Smith (TX-21), certainly cannot be counted on in this fight. His name does not appear as a co-sponsor, and I wouldn't expect it to do so, since according to this site, Mr. Smith took the second-highest amount of campaign donations from the RIAA ($7,500) in the last election cycle. Given Mr. Smith's previous responses to constituent concerns (such as mine regarding the FairTax), I'm not surprised.

The RIAA oversteps its bounds...again

I guess I'm at least three days late with this, but that doesn't mean the RIAA's strong-arming of the Copyright Royalty Board into setting up most/all webcasters for certain doom doesn't still require a lot of attention from the webcast-listening public. Visit http://www.savenetradio.org/ to stay informed on this matter. This site has links for an online petition (for all the good those do...hopefully this one will be different) or to write your congressperson.

So, I sent a note to the Honorable Mr. Doggett this morning. Previously, Mr. Doggett (or his staff) has been good about responding to constituent concerns, so we'll see what comes of this.