Here are a couple of causes worthy of support (in my humble opinion).

At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the Copyright Royalty Board has increased the royalty payments internet radio stations must pay. That increase makes royalty payments drastically higher for the internet radio industry than those paid by traditional broadcasters. Even more absurd, royalty payments would be owed retroactively, for music that was played as far back as January of 2006 (which is kind of like the petroleum companies telling me I owe them money for the gas bought last year, because the price is higher this year).

When it comes to broadcast radio, I listen only to public radio, and the occasional sports broadcast. If I want to listen to music, I turn to internet radio such as Radio Paradise. Take a look at their playlist. You won’t hear a quarter of those songs on any commercial station.

There is a bill before congress which would equalize payments broadcasters and the internet radio industry pay. If this bill does not pass, the cost of playing music will be so high for the internet radio industry as to prohibit them from operating. That would leave music fans with only the homogenized sound of radio stations owned by Clear Channel and other media conglomerates.

For more information and links to contact your representatives, go to Save Internet Radio. You can also sign a petition and have it sent to your congressional representative at FreePress.net.

In another issue, the Postal Regulatory Commission is implementing a plan that will give favorable postal rates to “large, ad-heavy magazines like People at the expense of smaller publications like In These Times and The American Spectator.”

So, small independent publishers will be penalized with higher rates, while the larger companies can take advantage of a lower rate. Guess who proposed this plan to the Postal Regulatory Commission? None other than media conglomerate, Time Warner. Yet another example of inappropriate corporate influence on a government agency.

FreePress.net has more information about the postal rate hike, along with links to send messages to congress, and the Postal Service.

Please support these causes. Let’s keep the independent media on equal footing with the media conglomerates.