Net Radio's Day of Silence

Yesterday thousands of U.S. based webcasters -- including Yahoo Music, MTV Radio, Live 365, Pandora and Rhapsody -- participated in a day of silence to protest an impending royalty rate increase that, if put into effect, would end many of our countries internet radio stations.

Currently most U.S. webcasters pay 12% of profit back to the artists and labels they play, on top of a annual fee. On July 15, however, new and retroactive per-song royalty rates will go into effect which will increase costs dramatically.

A guy going by the name Cinematic Razor Sharp says on his MySpace Blog that these new royalty rates are way off base:

At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the CRB ignored the fact that Internet radio royalties were already double what satellite radio pays, and multiplied the royalties even further. The 2005 royalty rate was 7/100 of a penny per song streamed; the 2010 rate will be 19/100 of a penny per song streamed. And for small webcasters that were able to calculate royalties as a percentage of revenue in 2005 – that option was quashed by the CRB, so small webcasters' royalties will grow exponentially!

Webcasters who participated in the day of silence are urging listeners to get involved politically. Jerry del Colliano of Inside Music Media:

The plight of the large and small Internet streamer may get worse before it gets better. Activists are right to target Congress because only lawmakers can save the most exciting growth industry to hit music media since -- well, radio.

Therefore, I favor any approach that targets Congress. You make the non-supporters of fair royalty rates pay by not supporting them. This takes mobilization that can only happen through that great political tool called the Internet.

This is exactly how our representative form of government works. The great majority of Americans support this growing segment of music media. Congress should enable the ability of these folks to enjoy music entertainment online and allow entrepreneurial businesses to prosper simultaneously.

Anyone looking to get involved can go to www.SaveNetRadio.org where there are convenient ways to contact your representatives as well as news and information.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

The Bank of Wal-Mart?

Wal-Mart failed to gain approval for a bank. But the store plans to open 1,000 "money centers" in its US stores by the end of next year. Customers will be able to buy money orders, cash checks and pay bills at a lower price. Pre-paid Visa debt cards, aimed at low-income consumers, will also be available for an initial cost of $8.95 with a $4.95 monthly maintenance fee.

The move by Wal-Mart is seen as a first step into the banking world. The money center services and pre-paid cards are considered "foundational products" that will be built upon. Some see the retailer eventually offering mortgages and home equity loans.

Analysts said there is reason to believe Wal-Mart will lower the cost of banking in the US. According to company executives the store's financial services saved customers $245 million last year and cut the cost of check cashing 50 percent.

The Collection of Pennies blog says Wal-Marts' ubiquity should bring many customers to its new financial offerings and now could be a good time to buy the stock:

Wal-Mart is a master cutting costs out of their products, which could allow them to be a low cost provider in the banking industry. The fact that Wal-Mart has locations all over the world positions them to reach a greater consumer base. . . If you love Wal-Mart or hate them you can’t ignore their success. With a newly added financial product line Wal-Mart looks like a worthwhile buy.

Convenience is king says The New Business World blog:

Finally, the convenience of having banking and shopping together cannot be matched. When you walk into Wal-Mart with your check you can cash it, put it on your credit card, pay your bills, pick up grocery’s and buy your kids soccer shorts. One-stop shopping has its advantages where everyone is busy and visiting another store might mean a 20 minute drive.

CNY Circus asks if such convenience could also be a trap:

“The Bank of Wal-Mart” could be a great convenience for the store chain’s 36 million customers who have no bank accounts. They can transfer their paychecks directly onto pre-paid debit cards and very likely spend big chunks of their low incomes at the store. As for credit cards and loans, what interest rates will Wal-Mart charge these customers? Could putting their financial lives in the retailer’s hands be a trap, as well as a convenience?

Local bankers and others will be watching with concern, as Wal-Mart quadruples the non-branches of its non-banks and gives people who need to watch every penny, incentives to sign up.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Da Gay Bomb

The so called "gay bomb" has been the source of many a bad jokes lately. I'd like to share some of them with you (or at least some blogger commentary), but before I do, I may as well give a quick explanation in case you haven't heard about this.

Pentagon officials confirmed they had considered but then abandoned a project to build a hormone releasing device, essentially making the targets appear so attractive to each other they would be more interested in love making than fighting. They asked for $7.5 million to develop this non-lethal, chemical weapon.

Michael Bruno of the blog I Couldn't Fake it if I Tried claims there is no gay switch and this is by no means a method of safety:

. . . I always get a kick out of people who think that we all just “magically turn gay” and can turn it on and off. But also because of the idea that 7.5 million, thats right, million dollars would be invested into such a project. And not for anything, but I love how the government would qualify turning enemy soldiers into fudge packers as a means of keeping our country safe.

And I believe Brian of Welcome to Tardville has it backwards; the gay bomb was intended for the enemy, not "our troops":

I can only imagine that we will also be hearing reports in the near future about the Air Force's ill-fated attempt to develop "Gaydar."

My question about all this is, "what about the don't ask, don't tell policy?" A bomb of this nature would be devastating to our troops, who, when struck with 4 kilotons of fag, would immediately have to turn in their fatigues and march home, skipping, in retreat, having been "exposed.". . . I guess this would give a new meaning to men getting "dirty in the trenches."

The following is some quote from some MySpace Blog or something. I can't figure out who actually said it or who to attribute it to, but it counters all the hating:

So, it's just offensive that they think by turning people gay that the other military would be incapable of doing their job. And it's absurd because there's so much medical data that shows that sexual orientation is immutable and cannot be changed.

The End.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Welcome to my Underground Lair

The Associated Press has a story out revealing the existence of various secret offices occupied by Senators. These "hard-to-find nooks scattered around the Capitol" are coveted by many of the 100 Senators in addition to their nearby official suites. Some of the hideaways are in the basement of the Capitol; some are hidden behind cordoned off hallways; yet others are behind doors marked only with an "H" for House and "S" for Senate and a number.

Usually, the more senior the member of the Senate, the swanker the hideaway setup. Some of the spaces lack a window and only have room for a standard desk and chair. Others have working fireplaces, a grand view of the Mall, phones, furniture, fridges, stoves, even bars.

Some of the things that go down or have gone down in the hideaways are as follows:

• Legislative dealmaking
• LBJ turned his into a "love nest". He would invite women there at day's end to "take diction"
• Louisiana Sen. Allan Ellender served shrimp gumbo to five U.S. presidents in his third floor hideaway
• Vice President Harry S. Truman learned of FDR's death while stopping by House Speaker Sam Rayburn's hideaway for a late-afternoon snort of bourbon
• Gordon Humphrey's staff called his hideaway the 3C center -- military jargon for command, control and communication -- because the former pilot would pretend he was back in the cockpit when going there
  

For more detail and a timeline, check the side story "Hideaway History" by the AP.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation