BY KURT HANSON
Yesterday's Internet radio "Day of Silence" protest garnered tons of press coverage in various mainstream media, hopefully sensitizing Washington, D.C. legislators and other decision-makers to the severerity of the impact of the CARP-recommended royalty rates on Internet radio.

We'll continue to update this table throughout the day as we hear of more stories. (If you know of press coverage that we're missing, feel free to drop a line to us at kurt@kurthanson.com or using the feedback form below.

(New stories added as of 3:42pm CDT)

	Webcasters 'silently' hit royalty rates
	Digital Dilemma
	Webcasters to interrupt service today 'Day of Silence' planned to protest proposed royalties
	'Silence' Greets Webcasting Fees
	Lightningcast Gives Millions of Citizens a Voice in Grassroots Opposition
	Lightningcast to Speak Up on Webcasters Day of Silence
	Day of Silence-Marathon Broadcast to Save Internet Radio
	The Silence of the Webcasters
	Webcasters want to silence the Internet
	Online radio plans 'silent' protest of fees
	Net Radio' s day off
	Silence greets Webcasting fees
	Streaming Music Choked by Fees?
	Mass protest appeals against US copyright plans
	Listeners Respond as College Radio Stations Join Copyright-Fee Protest
	Save Internet radio! Here's why--and here's how
	Webcasters to protest rates with sound of silence
	Webcasts go silent in royalty protest
	Internet radio organizes "Day of Silence" on Wednesday
	American websites hold Day Of Silence protest
	Webcasters' silence is heard
	Liberty vs. Royalties
	Radio Webcasters fear fees will be their death
	Web radio stations plan silent protest
	The Day the Music Sighed
	Music Stops In Protest
	A silent mayday for Internet radio
	Net radio to fall silent for a day
	The Day the Music Died
	Webcasters go silent in royalty-rate protest
	Small Webcasters Fear Royalties
	Internet Radio Stations May Protest Royalties
	Internet Radio Falls Silent Today
	Web Radio Stations Stage Silent Protest
	Internet Radio Organizes "Day of Silence"
	A Day of Silence for Internet radio
	Hundreds of Internet radio stations across the country...

Steve Wolf, WOLF FM founder and host of yesterday's 12-hour "Emergency Webcasting System" talk show appeared on Tech TV's Screen Savers program (here) on Tuesday night. CNN covered the story with a brief live interview with Kurt Hanson on Headline News on Monday, plus a feature story on Rusty Hodge and his SomaFM Internet webcast. The event also made USA Today.com's "Web Guide."

Attentive spotters also saw coverage and/or discussion at places like Digital Coast Reporter, Slashdot.org, RadioInk, RadioBusinessReport (see Wednesday's issue), and some great coverage in AllAccess (again, Wednesday).

Thanks to everyone who helped us find (and helped the industry get) media coverage. Please feel free to let us know about more (especially if you or your webcast or station is covered!). E-mail us at feedback@kurthanson.com.

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BY PAUL MALONEY
Internet radio's "Day of Silence" made a huge noise yesterday, with hundreds upon hundreds of webcasters and broadcasters around the country and the world banding together in support of this nascent medium.

Over the course of the day-long event, over 120,000 listeners visited the "Save Internet Radio" website, which provided instructions on how to contact one's Congressional representativesin Washington, DC, regarding the upcoming U.S. Copyright Office decisions on royalty rates.

The site urged listeners to urge their representatives to remind the Librarian of Congress that the legislative intent of establishing a statutory royalty rate was to encourage the growth of the industry, not shut it down.

A 12-hour marathon talk show hosted by WOLF FM's Steve Wolf (pictured below, right), carried by over a dozen major independent webcasters, about the possible demise of Internet radio was easily the most-listened-to programming on the Shoutcast stream aggregation service yesterday. Adding all the streams together, it may have had the largest AQH audience of any Internet radio webcast to date.

And as news of the efforts to save the industry spread, this publication's Save Internet Radio site and ad-insertion technology firm Lightningcast saw sites visits and the use of their related services skyrocket.

RAIN checked several times throughout the morning and afternoon as WOLF FM and cooperating webcasters carried the "Emergency Webcasting System" talk show on the industry's "Day of Silence" (a shot from the studio cam during yesterday's show is at right). The WOLF FM 128k stream consistently held the top spot throughout the day.



Several of the other webcasters carrying the program, such as SomaFM's "Groove Salad" 128k stream and DigitallyImported's "Mostly Classical" 128k channel, also ranked within the top ten. As you may see from the screen capture above -- from late yesterday afternoon -- Digitally Imported's techno station ranked at least as high as number 4, though it carried only silence interspersed with occasional PSAs!

Shoutcast statistics showed that by about 8pm CDT the talk show had accumulated more than 30,000 total hours spent listening, attracting over 120,000 unique listeners. And this total doesn't even include those webcasters carrying the program who aren't on the Shoutcast system.

Lightningcast, since shortly after the announcement of the CARP's recommendation to the Library of Congress on webcasting royalty rates, has offered 'Net radio supporters a service to fax their respective representatives in Congress about the issue. According to VP of Engineering Ethan Evans, his company sent out more than 15,000 faxes to the congressional representatives of over 5,000 individual Internet radio listeners. He told RAIN that this more than doubles the amount of faxes sent since Lightningcast began offering the service almost a month ago.

Santa Monica public broadcaster KCRW was one of several broadcasters to take part in yesterday's "Day of Silence" events. While not the only traditional outlet to silence its streams, we thought their press release concerning their activity, released Tuesday, was especially good.

Susquehanna' San Francisco AAA KFOG-FM had a nice presentation as well...see below.

From the KCRW press release: "On Wednesday, May 1, in solidarity with hundreds of Internet radio Webcasters across America, www.KCRW.com (89.9 FM KCRW in Southern California) will join in a 'Day of Silence' by shutting off its three live, 24/7 streams on Real, Windows and Radio@AOL: KCRW.com (a simulcast of the on-air broadcast), KCRWMusic.com, and KCRWWorldNews.com. According to Arbitron, KCRW ranks #15 in the top Internet Radio Networks.

"KCRW is supporting the nationwide 'silence' protest to send a message to the US Copyright Office about the upcoming ruling on royalty rates that could shut down or bankrupt much of the nascent Internet radio industry.

"The station will run on-air announcements on May 1 explaining why the web streams have been silenced. On May 2, KCRW will begin an on-air public awareness campaign concerning the issue pending before the Copyright Office and will ask listeners to get involved. For several weeks, KCRW.com has posted a 'HELP SAVE INTERNET RADIO' button on the home page. The station has also announced a call to action in its weekly INFO@KCRW Newsletter, sent to a list of more than 14,000 people worldwide via email...

"KCRW’s Webmaster, Jason Georges, explains: 'KCRW is alarmed that record royalty issues now pending before the federal government could drastically curtail KCRW.com's ability to grow and flourish. Although our streaming is currently covered by a blanket license negotiated by the CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting), we are concerned about future royalties, onerous record-keeping requirements, our ability to add more streaming channels, and the ability of our colleagues in noncommercial and commercial radio to continue streaming audio on the Internet.'"

Susquehanna stations offer major support
From KFOG/San Francisco's site: "KFOG listeners in the bay area and all over the world have come to depend on KFOG's World Class Rock broadcast being streamed on the internet. We've overcome many obstacles in our efforts to bring KFOG to you via the web but today we face an obstacle that may be too big to overcome.

"A government panel called CARP (Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel) is charged with determining performance royalties to be paid by anyone streaming music via the Internet The rates being proposed are so high, and the reporting criteria so complicated, that they will effectively silence Internet broadcasting. Only the largest Internet conglomerates or record labels will be able to afford to continue to stream.

"Today, Wednesday, May 1st, KFOG joins together with broadcasters small and large, from around the country to ask you to please take a moment to think about how the convenience of listening to KFOG or other online broadcasters on your computer at work, home, or from anywhere in the world, has effected your daily life. Consider what your day would be like without it...

"To help preserve Internet music streaming contact your Representatives in Washington and tell them to support your freedom of choice by voting against Carp's ruling. For more information and how you can make a difference click to www.saveinternetradio.org… without your voice you may only hear silence. For those who still wish to listen to KFOG over the Internet right now, please click here. Thanks from all us here at KFOG!"

Classical WQXR/New York City's language:
From WQXR.com: "On May 1st webcasters are calling attention to the US Copyright Office's proposed royalty rates for broadcasting on the Internet. WQXR supports these efforts. If, by May 21st, the Copyright Office accepts the proposed rates from the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel, the fees will be prohibitive for all but a few webcasters, and will reduce the diversity and vitality of music on the Internet.

"To learn more about the impact of the proposed rates, and to find out what you can do, go to www.SaveInternetRadio.org."