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The
RAIN Reader Cocktail Party is tentatively scheduled for
Friday September 22, 5-7p. I thought we'd just
meet in the bar at the stylish, new
W Hotel, which is very close to
the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. Please let
me know here
if this conflicts with anything major.
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BY BOB BELLIN
Did you find the interview with RIAA
CEO Hilary Rosen
(Part 1 here,
Part 2 here)
as disturbing as I did? I think
the RIAA's strategy with respect to music licensing should have every
current and would-be webcaster quaking in their boots. The source
of the problem is not the RIAA, who (although I disagree with them)
is doing what the industry it represents believes is in its best interest.
The culprit is a poorly conceived law rushed through Congress in 1998
known as the Digital Millennium Copyright
Act, or the DMCA (definition here).
Let's look at some of Ms. Rosen's comments and what they mean
when applied.
"And so, there are marketplace deals."
That's a very liberal use of the term marketplace. "Marketplace"
suggests that prices are set based on supply and demand responses
to market forces.
What's happening here is nothing like that. Individual companies
are negotiating in secret with the RIAA,  in
effect negotiating with themselves. They have no idea what their competitors
are being charged for comparable licenses and there is no other organization
to negotiate with for competitive rates.
The RIAA can therefore make or break any webcaster. If they like
you or your model, then they can give you what amounts to a free pass.
If they don't, they're free to charge you anything they want and make
it impossible for you to ever turn a profit.
Note how they're dragging their feet in the arbitration referenced
in the interview (Rosen said she doesn't expect a decision until next
year). They're actually saying that they'll give you a better deal
if you approach them individually. This will declaw the arbitration
initiative and render the process more analogous to an Iraqi court
than a marketplace based solution.
"But what has happened is that as companies
have sought those licenses, they have then started to sort of layer
on additional licensing on top of that with the record companies for
interactivity for their users, which is really important."
Translation: You can buy your way around the law. If you want
to do something that the DMCA forbids,  you
can pay the RIAA to overlook it, like buying a lot of tickets to the
Policeman's Ball and being allowed to go ten miles-per-hour over the
speed limit. What's more, they have the right to make me buy ten tickets
for the privilege and force you to buy out the whole ballroom. Why?
Because the DMCA says they can.
"…generally, we have tried to do everything
we can over the last year to work with individual webcasters who want
to get licensed to simplify this, and the marketplace gives us some
flexibility to do that".
This marketplace has the same competitive forces at work that
elected Soviet premiers.
"Contact us, we'll work it through," because
we can help with sort of model license agreements. We don't have one
published there because there is no 'one size fits all' for the kinds
of businesses that come to us."
That might be true if someone comes up with a new wrinkle,
but for most webcasting applications, there's no reason not to develop
a "one-size-fits-all" pricing model. Base it on audience
size, revenue, or both -- but why shouldn't an aspiring webcaster
be able to look  at
a price list and know exactly what level of success triggers what
licensing expense?
The "one-size-fits-all" line shrouds an underlying control
issue. This way the RIAA reserves the right to kill a webcasting business
that they don't like. When you pass a law that gives the wolf control
over the hen house, the wolves have better lives than the hens.
"…the thing that creates a good user experience
is commercial intervention."
Every commercial attempt that has generated any serious consumer
interest has been sued by the RIAA. Their concern for copyright holders
is well founded, and I don't blame them for wanting to get compensated.
But the lack of response by the music industry (which the RIAA represents)
with pay versions of these popular sites (Napster,
mymp3.com, Scour,
International Lyrics Server)
speaks volumes as to their real intentions with respect to "commercial
intervention".
Believe it or not, I don't think the RIAA is the lightning
rod here, I think it's the law. While I don't think the course the
RIAA has  chosen
to pursue is in the recording industry's best interest, they obviously
disagree. The RIAA is following the directives that the music business
has established for them and acting within the law. They have every
legal and ethical right to continue on that course. If the industry
wanted to pursue a different agenda, Hilary Rosen would be singing
a less combative tune.
The DMCA was passed in a hurry by Congress long before its
ramifications could be known, and the RIAA should not be vilified
for milking it for all its worth. What should be done? This well-intentioned,
but flawed piece of legislation should be scrapped or amended before
a monster is created in its wake, and webcasting becomes nothing more
than a promotional tool for the music industry.
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an opinion on this subject? Share it! Simply click
the headline at left to bring up a convenient
pop-up form. (Or, to use your own e-mail software,
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From the WiredPlanet website: "Listen.com
announced today that it has acquired WiredPlanet,
a leading
provider of personalized audio streaming entertainment. Terms of
the deal between the two private San Francisco based companies were
not announced.
"Listen.com, a syndicator of online music products and
information, will immediately begin to integrate WiredPlanet's streaming
technologies and personalization tools into its offering to distribution
partners and consumers. Listen.com's current syndication partners
include Yahoo!, GO.com,
Lycos, Snap.com
and AltaVista.
Read the press release here.
From RBR: "Lightningcast,
heretofore known for its highly-targeted audio ad insertion capability,
has announced  video
ad insertion capability to its offering. Initial partnership offerings
for the service include ChoiceRadio.com,
E-Radio Live, GolfVision.com,
Kundi.com and TradeMentor.
"The offering, which will also be made to radio and
audio webcasters, is sold upon a richer multimedia experience and
an alternative to static banner ads. Through the Lightningcast affiliate
network, webcasters can now be part of highly targeted agency buys...
"Lightningcast will also be launching RealNetworks
technology in the next couple of weeks, offering all of the same
feature sets as the current Windows
Media player partnership."
Read the story on Radio Business Report's site here.
|
Simply click the headline at left to
bring up a convenient pop-up form! |
From the WebRadio.com site:"WebRadio.com,
a subsidiary of GEO Interactive,
today announced
the addition of Tom Pinkus to
the WebRadio management team. Pinkus has been hired on as the company's
Director of Marketing, greatly in part due to his strong marketing
background in the radio and Internet industries.
"Before joining WebRadio.com, Pinkus served as the Director
of Operations for FMiTV/Clear
Channel Communications' new media venture, KIISFMi.com...Additionally,
Pinkus brings  to
WebRadio his radio industry experience as an afternoon show Producer
at 102.7 KIIS-FM in Los
Angeles, a Producer for the nationally syndicated show, Magic Matt
"On The Line," as well as a morning show Producer at Q106 in
San Diego."
Read the WebRadio.com press release here.
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| September
20-22 |
Gavin.com:
Music on the Net, San Francisco |
| September
20-23 |
NAB
Radio Show, San Francisco |
| Sept.
29-Oct. 1 |
MOBE/Internet
& Technology, Chicago |
| October
5-7 |
Billboard/Airplay
Monitor Seminar, New York |
| October
9-12 |
QuickTime
Live! Conference,
Beverly Hills |
| October 10-12 |
Streaming
Media Europe 2000, London (NEW!) |
| November
5-7 |
NAB
European Radio Conference, Berlin
|
| November 12-14 |
Canadian Association of Broadcasters
(CAB) "Broadcasting 2000: On-air / On-line," Calgary
(NEW!) |
| Nov.
28-Dec. 1 |
Radio
Ink Internet Conference, Santa Clara, CA, featuring
a brand-new national study on Internet radio usage presented
by Eric Rhoads & Kurt Hanson |
| xxx |
 |
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