Internet radios to observe 'Day of Silence' to protest rate hike

Internet radios to observe 'Day of Silence' to protest rate hike
The SaveNetRadio Coalition has announced that Internet broadcast stations across US will observe a day of silence in protest against the recent price hike by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB).

The protest has been christened as "Day of Silence" and all the 14,000 members of the coalition, which includes Yahoo Inc., Viacom Inc and RealNetworks Inc, will not be airing any programs on June 26.

Jake Ward, a SaveNetRadio Coalition spokesman, said that the CRB's decision to hike the royalty rates would mean that thousands of small Internet radio broadcasters will have to shut down their service.

"The arbitrary and drastic rate increases threaten the very livelihood of thousands of webcasters and their millions of listeners throughout the country. These proposals will bankrupt the industry", Ward said.

According the CRB decision taken in March, Internet broadcasters will have to pay $0.019 as royalty fees for the artists each time a song is played on their service. Internet broadcasters currently pay around $0.007 per song as royalty fees.

The price hike is expected to take place from July 15. Ward added that the 300 percent hike will be too much for some broadcasters who will have to close down in order to prevent going bankrupt.

But SoundExchange, the lobby group that had pushed for the rate hike, said the major broadcasters such as Yahoo and Viacom can afford to pay increased rates while it has already proposed a cheaper alternative for smaller broadcasters.