May 14, 2008
Dick Armey Goes Ballistic Over Broadcasters
Former Majority Leader Dick Armey came out swinging on Wednesday, offering the National Association of Broadcasters a good old-fashioned Texas butt-kicking over their opposition to a bill that he believes would put AM and FM radio on a level playing field with other music distribution platforms that pay royalties to artists and copyright holders.
At a briefing organized by the MusicFirst coalition, Armey (now employed by DLA Piper) said twin bills offered in the House and Senate would eradicate broadcast radio's longstanding exemption from paying performance royalties. He called the NAB's resistance to the bill "a sad testimony to their lack of professionalism and commitment to the arts and creativity."
First he called upon the Bible ("The holy script says a worker is worthy of his hire and should be paid"); then the nation's Founding Fathers ("The Constitution said people who are creators whether it be inventors or artists should have their rights to their work protected"); then on Howard Roark, the protagonist in "The Fountainhead" and then on William Shakespeare; to make his point.
My spirited colleague Brooks Boliek from The Hollywood Reporter asked Armey how he was a credible source given a story published that day that pointed out what MusicFirst did not -- that he's a lobbyist for the Recording Industry Association of America. Armey snapped: "I just think you're kind of annoying me. If you came in here to grind an ax, grind it somewhere else, because I frankly don’t care what somebody in Hollywood says about my credibility." He later apologized for "flying off the handle."
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Librarians Tout DTV Awareness Role
About 400 librarians from around the country have descended on Washington this week for their annual lobbying blitz. In fact, CongressDaily's AM edition includes a fun piece ("Librarians Have Catalog Of Issues To Share With Lawmakers") about their pilgrimage to Capitol Hill.
But before they began Wednesday meetings in the House and Senate, American Library Association President Loriene Roy hosted a press conference to discuss her group's joint effort with the Association of Public Television Stations and PBS to help educate citizens about the rapidly approaching digital TV transition deadline.
While awareness of the Feb. 17, 2009 analog shutoff date is growing, research also shows that many people are confused about what they can do to navigate the transition, the ALA said. As trusted community resources, libraries and public TV stations are uniquely positioned to help get people the information they need. Read more about ALA lobbying efforts here.
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April 30, 2008
Patent Lobbyists Spend $4.3 Million
A New York Times story on Wednesday estimated that in 15 months, two dueling business coalitions have spent $4.3 million lobbying on legislation that would overhaul the U.S. patent system. Other than that little nugget, the story served as a pretty succinct look back at one of the biggest battles in the 110th Congress. The story introduces the players, examines the issues underpinning the call for reform and does a decent job of articulating the opposition. Of course, for the blow-by-blow, CongressDaily is a good place to turn -- but hey, we're a little biased. Read the full story here.
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February 20, 2008
NYT: McCain, Telecom Lobbyist Controversy
An article posted on The New York Times Web site on Wednesday evening calls into question Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's relationship with Vicki Iseman, a partner with Alcalde & Fay. Iseman is a seasoned telecommunications lobbyist who represented corporations before the Senate Commerce Committee, which McCain chaired twice.
According to her bio, Iseman worked on the landmark 1992 and 1996 communications reform bills and helped secure cable access for broadcast television stations. She also has worked on the digital television conversion; satellite regulation and telecommunications ownership.
The NYT story has more details about Iseman's work in the communications arena and her alleged dealings with McCain.
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July 31, 2007
New Issue, New Grassroots Group
What do you do when Congress tackles a new issue that promises to be a hot topic among feuding industries? You start a grassroots group, of course. On Tuesday, local radio broadcasters, minority groups, non-profits and others formed the Free Radio Alliance to oppose what they see as a "performance tax" being pushed by the recording industry.
The announcement coincided with the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property examination of whether musicians should be paid when their songs are broadcast over AM and FM radio, which is the norm when their work is played on satellite, cable and Internet radio.
"More than half of the proposed performance tax would go to line the pockets of the record-label conglomerates, three out of four which are headquartered in other countries," said Free Radio spokeswoman Cathy Rought. "The record labels are desperately looking for financial help to support their failing business model, and they are doing so at the expense of local communities across the country."
Victims of the so-called tax would include smaller, specialized radio stations "that serve as the cultural lifeline to numerous religious, Hispanic, African American and other niche communities," Rought said in a press release.
Read more about the alliance here and read Technology Daily's coverage of the hearing here.
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July 19, 2007
CleanMyRide.org Launches
CleanMyRide.org, an energy policy project of the Center for American Progress, has posted its first bizarre video on its Web site and on YouTube. There's a weird cameo by Ben Affleck in a corn suit. Future installments will feature comedian Sarah Silverman, Matt Damon, Jason Biggs, and more.
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June 21, 2007
Exclusive: MTV Joins Web Radio Fight
Cable channel MTV has joined the crusade against the forthcoming Internet radio royalty hike, Tech Daily Dose has learned. The network is owned by media conglomerate Viacom and airs a variety of music, pop culture and reality shows aimed at young adults.
MTV has a prominent Web presence with news, podcasts, video clips and audio streaming services. The network's sister channels VH1 and CMT also offer online radio. Viacom owns Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, BET and other valuable entertainment assets.
The network joins major firms like America Online, Yahoo and Microsoft; small commercial webcasters; and noncommercial giants like National Public Radio in protesting the March ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board. The rate increase will begin July 15 unless Congress or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit block the decision.
A number of webcasters involved in SaveNetRadio, including MTV, will take part in a "day of silence" on Tuesday to protest the changes, which they say could threaten Internet radio's livelihood. Read more about that effort in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
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June 06, 2007
McAfee CEO's Warning To Washington
In the next 18-24 months, McAfee analysts are anticipating "more challenges than we've seen in the last 20 years combined" when it comes to cyber security problems, CEO Dave DeWalt said at a breakfast with reporters on Wednesday. That means more viruses, more malware and more cybercrime, he added.
"We're on a pretty hard ramp in terms of challenges," DeWalt said, emphasizing the need for legislation and industry cooperation. He lauded a recently introduced bill, H.R. 2290, that would criminalize attacks by botnets -- software robots that remotely controls computers -- and broaden the criminal code on electronic data theft.
DeWalt was in Washington with a handful of other Silicon Valley honchos lobbying on behalf of the Business Software Alliance. Read more about their efforts in Technology Daily's PM edition.
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May 29, 2007
Broadcasters Hire GOP Trio For XM-Sirius Work
Here's a new wrinkle in the ongoing lobbying blitz surrounding the proposed merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. The Center for Public Integrity's Telecom Watch blog reports that the National Association of Broadcasters has hired lobbying firm Bluewater Strategies to combat the pending deal.
In a filing last week at the Senate Office of Public Records, lobbyists Tim Kurth, Andrew Lundquist and George Nethercutt, a former Republican congressman from Washington, said they would represent the NAB on the merger and other issues. NAB has led the crusade against the XM-Sirius union and officials have repeatedly testified that the merger would be harmful to consumers and the radio industry.
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