Time to get involved—I’m sick of the government bowing down to the RIAA with their decades old business models and pulling laws out of their ass for the Internet, the one place where there should be no laws. The attempt by the Copyright Royalty Board to raise Internet radio rates does nothing but shut down the little guy and protect Top 40 terrestrial radio stations. I’m sorry, but ummm, the last time I checked, nobody listens to FM radio anymore—unless it’s NPR, of course. In my next car, all I want is an iPod dock and NPR. Societal change cannot be stopped with laws.

With 50 million listeners per month and the threat of rate increases from $20 thousand to $600 thousand [Soma FM's rate increase, via Newsweek], I have a feeling Internet radio isn’t going anywhere. It would be too fucked up to watch di.fm disappear—they’ve been around as long as I can remember.

Oh, and NPR, which broadcasts over 300 local stations online, is leading the fight. They’re funded by taxpayer dollars, not advertising, so they can’t afford the royalty rate increase (and they don’t even play music anyway). Duh.

Get involved and support the Internet Radio Equality Act. Or at least post a banner wherever you can.