Off Topic

I’m going off-topic today because of Pandora.com’s recent’s announcement that they may shut down soon.

mocoNews.net says:

Pandora is “approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision,” a potential “last stand for webcasting” as royalty fee increases begin to take hold. It’s clear he wants legislative support—and if that can be helped by spurning a coordinated outcry from the company’s million-plus users who listen to Pandora daily so be it.

and The iPhone Blog says:

We might be approaching Pandora’s Last Stand, but let’s make sure they don’t stand alone.

So, yes, let’s make sure they don’t stand alone. Go to SaveNetRadio.org and click the big button that says Call Your Senators and Representatives. Then make the call. If you care about internet radio, this is the time to act.

People who have been reading our blog for a long time know that this isn’t the first time I’ve written about this issue – I feel very strongly about it, enough that I’m breaking our rule about not posting about off-topic topics. But it’s my rule – I can break it. And this is a time when enough voices might make a difference.

So help make noise. Post this info, call or write your representatives in government. Don’t let the music die.

Today is the Internet Radio Day of Silence. To quote from the official press release:

Please help us support this effort. This site will help you send letters, get banners for your own site, and spread the word to your friends.

They’ve been a little busy lately, which is great, so if you have any problems with that link, you can pick either of the ones below:

• Call your representative (the link will give you their phone number) and ask for their support of the Internet Radio Equality Act: S. 1353 in the Senate and H.R. 2060 in the House.
• If you’d rather write a letter or an email, this link will help. But be sure to also mention the Internet Radio Equality Act: S. 1353 in the Senate and H.R. 2060 in the House.

Don’t let internet radio go silent permanently. Act now.

Thanks.

I’m interrupting our “regular” blog to post about something I feel very strongly about. And while we have a rule here (as much as we have any rules, we’re not big on them) that blog topics need to be at least somewhat related to what we do, one of the perks of being an owner is that I can break the rules and no one gets to say much.

So I’m jumping on a soapbox to urge everyone to read about how the new copyright rules really threaten the future of Internet Radio. This site has a lot of info, as well as links to another site that makes it very easy to send emails or even real letters to your congresspeople.

Please check it out, and, if it’s something you believe in, sign the petition, send the letters, and add the banners to your own site. And of course, come back here and post that you did, so we can add you to our monthly giveaway, and to the extra giveaway that I’ll be doing among people who reply to this specific post and say they’ve sent letters or added banners to their sites. So even if you’re not that interested in helping out internet radio, you’ll have some extra chances to win our software and swag by doing so.

Thank you! And we now return you to our regular Ilium Software blog.