--- Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2002 14:00:21 -0500 To: declanat_private From: Stephen Cobb <scobbat_private> Subject: The "hidden" issue in Internet radio fees In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.0.20020322012539.00aa46f0at_private> Declan There is a very interesting privacy issue hidden in the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel ("CARP") decision that Internet radio Webcasters should pay "performance rights." The Copyright Office, Library of Congress, has an NPRM "Notice and Recordkeeping for Use of Sound Recordings Under Statutory License" which seems to be directly aligned with the request of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) (http://www.loc.gov/copyright/fedreg/2002/67fr5761.html) The NPRM proposes that Internet radio stations (and possibly fledgling satellite radio stations) be required to keep and submit for inspection a "Listener's Log" (their term) which will: "identify the name of the Service, the channel or program accessed, information on the user, such as date and time the user logged in and out, the time zone of the place at which the user received the transmission (latitude and longitude via IP address), the user identifier (MAC address?), and the country in which the user received the transmission." Here is what our Copyright Office thinks about this detailed tracking of listeners: "On its face, the request for the Intended Playlists, Listener's Log, and Ephemeral Phonorecord Log seems reasonably based on the premise that the copyright owners need certain specific information to monitor compliance and use by the Services. In support of its request for the detailed information, RIAA argues that the information it seeks from the Services is "easily provided, not burdensome, and in fact, is currently provided by a number of licensees who have obtained licenses through negotiations with the RIAA and/or Sound Exchange." I am sure some people will find this rather breathtaking. It certianly suggests that bigger Internet radio stations are already supplying the industry with records of what people listen to, along with when and where. Since I happen to enjoy listening to a local Internet radio station (Radio IO) I talked with the person who runs it (one person, Mike, in his spare time). He says he currently logs only what is necessary to report (and pay) the currently required "performance" fees. But that information is never provided to anyone in a way that makes it personally identifiable information. What really strikes me as strange about this position on the part of the Copyright office is that one can currently acquire access to digital music (or digital text) with no tracking (buy a CD or e-book with cash). And one can listen to FM without the FM station knowing who one is. Can one assume from this NPRM that people will soon have to register e-books and music CDs before opening them? Frankly, I could care less who knows what music I listen to, but I'm not sure I want everyone in the world to know that I listen to Bill Hicks, or that I read Harry Potter! Stephen p.s. Mike conservatively estimates that if the current proposals are upheld he will owe $500,000 in back-dated fees, and his station will rapidly move off-shore. He urges people to check out http://saveinternetradio.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Politech dinner in SF on 4/16: http://www.politechbot.com/events/cfp2002/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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