Published by Randall Krause on Saturday, January 20, 2007 [Permalink] [Return to Top]
Call to Action: Oppose the Perform Act of 2007
There is a very dangerous piece of legislation in the works known as the Perform Act of 2007. It designed to curb the fair-use rights of music consumers and stifle technological innovation in streaming radio. This Act alone will undoubtedly open the floodgates for future regulation of all new-media platforms in the United States.
Imagine being forced to use only highly-proprietary software and codecs to listen to all of your favourite Internet radio stations. Say good bye to WinAmp. Say hello to Windows Media Player and RealPlayer.
That's right. The Recording Industry Association of America, with the support of Senators Feinstein, Graham, Biden, and Alexander, wants to impose strict Digital Rights Management in all online broadcasts operating under statutory license. In doing so, the record labels will be able to more effectively police the habits of listeners. Meanwhile, Microsoft and RealNetworks, both of whom have a substantial stake in the online entertainment industry, will gain yet another victory.
Thankfully, the Webcaster community scored a successful hit last year by halting this bill in its tracks. But, the RIAA is still determined to set a new precedent in how we use -- or rather how they control all of the music that we so often enjoy.
Please, take a moment to share your thoughts about bill S. 256 with our lawmakers. It is important that we take action now.
http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=221
