Steve Chabot is on Board to Save Net Radio

Ohio representative Steve Chabot is on board to save net radio. There was a hearing yesterday in the House of Representatives Committee on Small Business concerning the royalty increase. Rep. Steve Chabot is the co-chairman of that committee. His opening remarks showed his support to find a fair and equitable plan that works for both net radio and the music companies. He was also surprised that congress was revisiting this issue only 5 years after reaching an agreement in 2002. That's a big surprise to me, too. It sounds like Congress is starting to see that the music industry is always looking for the best deal, and never is concerned about the public interest.

I was also excited to see some local guys putting in their two cents. There was Richard Eiswerth (President, General Manager & CEO of Cincinnati Public Radio) representing the interests of National Public Radio. There was also local net radio broadcaster Bryan Miller, the General Manager of WOXY.COM here in Cincinnati.

The general consensus seemed to be that they may not be able to stop the rate increase from happening on July 15th, but they are committed to making sure Net Radio finds a way to survive and thrive.