On June 26 of this year, thousands of US webcasters will go silent in a bid to draw attention to impending royalty rate increases that the industry believes will shutdown the country's internet radio. US copyright body the Copyright Royalty Board proposed in March to double the amount webcasters pay for every track they play. Many webcasters are planning to shut off access to their streams entirely, while others plan to replace the music with long periods of silence, static or "ocean sounds" interspersed with occasional brief public service announcements on the subject.
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The arbitrary and drastic rate increases set by the Copyright Royalty Board on 2 March threaten the very livelihood of thousands of webcasters and their millions of listeners throughout the country. The campaign to save internet radio, a grassroots movement comprised of hundreds of thousands of webcasters, artists, independent labels and listeners, has quickly brought this issue to the national forefront and the halls of Congress, but there is still more to be done before the deadline of 15 July," said Jake Ward, a spokesman for the SaveNetRadio coalition.
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