Re: [ARSCLIST] Internet Radio Status Update

[Dismuke <dismukemail@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Steve Abrams <steve.abrams@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I am sorry Dismuke but you obviously DO mean to be
> rude.  Your posts have 
> been abusive and personal....

I have NOT been rude nor have I been abusive.  It is
true that I have made my case in very strong terms and
that I hold people accountable for the positions that
they express.  But that is not the same thing as being
rude and it is certainly not abusive.

As for personal - well, you are DARN TOOTIN' it is
personal.  For me this is a PROFOUNDLY personal issue
and I will not apologize for that for one minute.

In case you somehow do not already know, I happen to
be a WEBCASTER.  I have put a GREAT DEAL of TIME,
ENERGY, PASSION and LOTS OF MONEY into my station.  To
date, I have never asked for nor received a single
penny in return for that considerable amount of time
and money I have invested into it.  I do it because of
my profound love for the music that I present - music
that, prior to the advent of the Internet, was all but
unknown and inaccessible outside of a relative handful
of collector types.  Thanks to the Internet that music
is once again finding the modern audience that it so
greatly deserves.   I get emails all the time from
listeners who tell me how the music has impacted their
lives - and some of these stories are heartwarming and
occasionally even heartbreaking.

And then there is the RIAA and SoundExchange who
KNOWINGLY seeks to DESTROY all that by INTENTIONALLY
trying to force my service providers into bankruptcy. 
Why?  Because they are afraid of the competition. 
They are terrified of the prospect of no longer being
the gatekeepers of which music becomes known to
general audiences and which does not.   So what they
do is use their bought and paid for legislation and
their government sanctioned monopoly in an attempt to
bankrupt Internet radio providers so they can replace
them with the FM type formats that they would rather
their customers listen to.  And, to add salt to the
wounds, SoundExchange has the NERVE to do all this in
the name of the thousands and thousands of artists and
small copyright holders that they seek to SCREW out of
all-important airplay.   Internet radio is the one
medium that is going to help artists finally break
free from the hold the RIAA labels have had over them
for decades - and, in their name, the RIAA's puppet
organization seeks to destroy it.

I have no problem if my Internet radio station does
not survive because people no longer are interested in
listening to it or if someone else comes along and
does a better job at it than I do.  I do not have a
right to my listeners - just as the RIAA labels do not
have a right to their traditional markets if others
come along and serve them better.   But I will NOT
remain silent when a cartel of very wealthy
corporations seeks to use the law of the land to shut
it and thousand of other stations down because they
would rather not have deal with new and emerging
competitors. So long as I am alive I will fight such
people and their apologists with every fiber of my
being.

So YES, when there are people out there who seek to
DESTROY what I have worked so hard on and devoted so
much of my time, passion and energy to, I DO take that
personally.  I take it VERY personally.  And when
someone comes along on a public form and shills for
such people and makes MISREPRESENTATIONS and
INACCURACIES on their behalf and utters assertions
that he is NOT willing to back up - well, when someone
gives public support and sanction to those who seek to
destroy my values, I take that personally as well.  
And I will NEVER apologize for that.  I regard that as
fidelity to my values and a virtue.

Someone in my position who did not take Bob's shilling
for the RIAA/SoundExchange personally would either be
pathologically repressed or a corpse. 

In cases like this, my motto is that which appeared on
very early American flags: "Don't tread on me."  If
someone is going to shill for the unethical and
morally bankrupt Luddite creeps who seek to destroy my
radio station and those of other webcasters in my
presence - well, they had darned well better have all
their facts straight because I will not sit idly by
and just "take it."  I may be powerless to fight the
RIAA/SoundExchange and various other forms of evil on
my own - but I sure as heck am not going to surrender
to it for one minute nor am I going to remain silent
when I hear people shill for and utter distortions on
their behalf.    This has nothing to do with Bob, per
se - I would have the same reaction to ANYONE who
shills for the people who seek to destroy me and
people like me.   I WILL NOT STAND SILENT WHEN PEOPLE
IN MY PRESENCE APOLOGIZE FOR THOSE WHO SEEK MY
DESTRUCTION. 

Does Bob have a right to state his opinions?  Of
course he does.  But inherent in stating one's
opinions is the RESPONSIBILITY to recognize and accept
the consequences of doing so.  If one is going to
express opinions which are unpopular, then one needs
to be darned prepared to encounter opposition and
sometimes even heated opposition.   And if one
expresses opinions of support for unethical and
morally bankrupt organizations in front of those whom
such organizations have selected out as targets -
well, then one had darned well better be prepared for
any of those targeted victims who might happen to be
present to get a little miffed off as a result. 

And as for being "abusive" - well, I will tell you who
is being abusive: RIAA/SoundExchange is the one that
is being abusive towards the webcasters it seeks to
bankrupt.  And as one of thousands of intended victims
of such abuse - well, I am not going to play the
silent victim and be silent when someone seeks to act
as an apologist for those who dish out such abuse.

So, let's just say YES, I DO take this personally. 
VERY personally.   And I will go further:  If anyone
here thinks that the RIAA/SoundExchange's attempt to
shut down Internet radio is fair and just - well, I
ask that you please be consistent and do not access my
streams or any of the other services I provide on the
Internet either now or in the future.  I, of course,
have no way of enforcing that - but know that if you
do you are not welcome.  I do not wish to provide
values to people who give support and sanction to
those who seek to destroy them.