================================================================= K-Files Ezine Special ================================================================= This is a K-FILES Ezine Special Edition. You are receiving this e-mail because you subscrbied to K-FILES Ezine using the following email address: [Email] ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Impending Silence of Internet Radio Editorial by Kevin W. Smith I have received email from across the country and around the world where people are hoping for the best in the upcoming doom of internet radio in America. Most people do not really believe it will happen. But it will. Congress created a creature called the Copyright Royalty Board. That board was given the right to set fees for music (and all recorded sound) royalties that are to be paid to a collection agency (called Sound Exchange), by every broadcaster. The fees being imposed are 1. Unconstitutional 2. Excessively high 3. Assumptive ownership Unconstitutional ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When a football player walks onto the field wearing a pear of Nike shoes, does he have to pay royalties to Nike, or does Nike pay him for promoting their products? When a race car speeds around a NASCAR track with a Penzoil sticker on its side, does the driver have to pay a royalty to Penzoil, or does Penzoil pay him to promote their product? Yet, when a broadcaster plays a song, he is required to pay a hefty fee for doing so. Playing the song promotes the artists, and people go out and buy the CD. Nevertheless, the broadcaster is required to pay a royalty fee for the privilege of building the artist's career. That is unconstitutional. The artists say that they should be paid for their work. I agree. Let the people who purchase the CDs pay. But what kind of Nazi nonsense is it to force those who are promoting your music to pay you for the privilege of promoting you? I do not have a problem with paying royalties to use commercially licensed music when I use it commercially. If I use a song as background for an ad, or as a theme song, I expect to pay. But when I am simply playing the song to expose it to the audience, I am rendering a service to the artist(s) and WILL NOT pay for promoting them. Artists say that we broadcasters cannot do without their music. Oh, really? Radio has audience whether it has commercially licensed music or not. Radio is king. People will listen even if they never hear another song. So, it is inaccurate to think that radio makes money off these artists' music. Radio does not make one red cent off of playing commercially licensed musis. Further, it is unconstitutional not only because the regulations require fees from the broadcaster who is actually promoting the songs for the artists, it requires higher fees from the web radio stations. No terrestrial radio station in America pays $72,270 per year for the privilege of promoting artists' music. Yet, a small web broadcaster with only 500 listeners in an hour will be paying precisely that-- $72,270 --per year. Why? What is fair or constitutional about that? Arists argue that writing songs is work and they deserve to be compensated by those who "use" their music. Well, broadcasters do not "use" their music. We broadcast it to people who will never know about the artist at all if we stop broadcasting. We are exposing the artists to the audience. If the song is good enough, the audience will go out and buy it. If the song is no good, they will not. That's just the way the market works. But forcing broadcasters to pay for the privilege of exposing artists' songs to the audience is Marxist at best. Artists, if your songs do not inspire the public to buy, that is your fault, not mine. If you starve, that is your fault and not mine. And if I can sway enough broadcasters to do it, we will not be playing your commercially licensed music at all and you will definitely starve. Nothing personal, but you, your industry, and your "organizations" have brought this on yourselves. You have no right to force anyone to pay you for the privilege of promoting you. Get real. Grow up. Read our Constitution. Excessively High ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While terrestrial radio stations have been cut a special deal by the music mafia, web radio has been told to be prepared to pay to the hilt. Why? Could it be linked to the fact that some of the most popular and most powerful talk shows are not on terrestrial radio, but are on web radio? Could it be that, while Congress professes a love for our Constitution, they really want freedom of speech shut down? Could it be that freedom of speech causes way to much transparency in government and they long for the good old days of "government of the people, in spite of the people"? Well, for answers one need only look at the triple-tried Senate immigration bill that they tried to shove down America's throat even though some 80% of Americans opposed it. Talk radio rallied Americans to phone their Senators and state their views. Americans did just that and angered the elite (who should be tried for treason). Now, while stating weepy eyed their love for the Constitution, they think they can step back away from their creation called the Copyright Royalty Board, and claim that "government intervention is not the right way to go" with this. They are trying to imply that there is no government intervention already--but there most certainly is. The Copyright Royalty Board is 100% an invention of Congress. It is outrageously insane to suggest that broadcasters should have to pay artists for the privilege of promoting the artists. But it is patently illegal and unconstitutional to demand that web broadcasters should pay astronomical fees when terrestrial radio does not have to do so. While a radio station may be paying $5,000 to $10,000 per year to play music (an unconstitutionality itself), the web broadcaster will pay far more. As stated above, a small broadcaster with only 500 listeners per hour will be paying $72,270 per year. A broadcast with a large audience like the Kevin Smith Show would require fees over $1,000,000.00 (one million dollars). And for what!? For the privilege of promoting artists' careers. By charging these outrageous fees, Congress knows web broadcasts will fall suddenly silent. That will be the first great victory for the enemies of the Constitution whom you have elected to Congress. The majority of talk radio (and thus, the majority of democracy) will have been silenced. All that will be left will be the terrestrial radio talk hosts. And all the Congress will have to do to control them is threaten the radio stations with a loss of their FCC license. The radio stations will definitely capitulate and freedom of speech will be lost from the air waves. Assumptive Ownership ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Your Congress has given Sound Exchange the right to impose heavy fees upon broadcasters even when the artists have not signed any agreement with Sound Exchange. When I am broadcasting live, the signal is leaving my studio in Phoenix and going to Omnisound Radio One Network. They are then providing signal to two other networks, and a host of radio stations that carry my show. They are also sending the show to a major shoutcast server that makes it possible for people all over the world to listen to my show via their computers. Sound Exchange says that because I am not physically plugged into the Omnisound Radio One server, and because Omnisound Radio One is distributing my signal, Omnisound is REBROADCASTING my show! What utter stupidity!!! Further, Sound Exchange says they have the right to charge Omnisound Radio One Network heavy fees for rebroadcasting my show. I have never signed an agreement with Sound Exchange. I will NEVER sign an agreement with them. So, what gives them the right to charge fees to Omnisound Radio One? Who died and made them God? This practice of just stepping in and charging fees when I have not agreed for them to do it is assumptive ownership. They are assuming the rights, powers, and position of ownership of my show. They do not own it, I do. Sound Exchange claims to be a non-profit organization. Yet, they have been granted powers by the government to force collection of fees that I have not agreed to. That means that they are functionally the government. Congressmen cannot hide behind plausible deniability on this one. Two of their own creations are taking away your freedom of speech, and "D" day is July 15, 2007. I am not writing to you in hopes that Congress will halt their continued attacks upon the Constitution they swore to uphold. They will not. They will continue to attack it until there is nothing left of freedom. I am writing merely to inform you (while I am still free to do so) that web radio will die on July 15, 2007. On July 15, 2007, you will go to sleep in the Republic you were born in. On July 16, 2007 you will awaken in an Empire where freedom is "just another word for nothing left to lose". Dire prediction? Yes, but based on the dire and unimaginable facts Congress has presented to us. Congress could act to stop this. They have already said they will not likely do so. In the final analysis, we elected them, we let them continue, we are at fault for the loss of our own freedoms. On July 15th, if Congress has not halted this unprecedented attack upon freedom of speech, we will pull the plug on the Kevin Smith Show. That being the case, July 13, 2007 (Friday) will be our last show. I wanted you to know why before we go over the waterfall. If, by some miracle, Congress does halt their own actions they have set in motion, I will be more than pleased to continue broadcasting. Some broadcasters are planning to move out of America to other countries where freedom of speech will more a reality after July 15, 2007. In fact, there are companies in other countries already upgrading their servers to get ready for the rush, and I have been asked if I plan to do that. I really don't know. Even if broadcasters were to move to other countries, the internet is controlled by the USA. If the USA decides to do so, they can simply close down all the broadcasts coming into the USA in the same way China blocks web sites that say negative things about China's communist government. The countdown has begun. Today is Jul 1. In 14 more days, we shall know if freedom of speech has survived. In 14 more days, we shall know if the Republic has survived, or if the Empire has been born. Kevin Smith Kevin Smith Show