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Pandora wins round one, but for the rest of us, nothing changes

Started by Duncan Riley · 9 months ago

After an intense last minute lobbying effort led by Pandora, the bill that was claimed to be “too close to call” H.R. 7084 passed the US House of Representatives tonight….without any dissent.
H.R. 7084, or the Webcaster Settlement Act gives webcasters an ex ... Continue reading »

2 comments

  • Zach

    9 months ago

    For one thing, this whole alarmism thing may not have been entirely unfounded. The bill passed unanimously after the National Association of Broadcasters, which represented terrestrial radio, dropped their opposition to this bill. It could've been shot down otherwise. It still could be, as you said. And if this hadn't been passed, they would have probably gone out of business, being unable to negotiate lower rates.

    As for being, uh, "georetarded," well, I'm not saying not having Pandora in Australia is fair. It sounds like it sucks. But why can't you guys write to your MPs or whatever your legislative equivalents are? Or to the music industry people?
    reply
  • Tim Westergren

    9 months ago

    Hi Duncan -

    Let me clarify the issue around Pandora streaming internationally. I understand your frustration. We share it. We started blocking listeners because we were threatened with a lawsuit if we didn't. Companies of Pandora's size and standing cannot ignore those threats.

    As soon as we get the issue sorted out in the US, we fully intend to pick up the cause overseas. It's always been our intention to make Pandora global. Hopefully a resolution will offer some precedent to accelerate similar arrangements across the globe.

    Also, just so listeners know, the fact that a bill passed unanimously does not mean it wasn't threatened. The negotiations to pass this bill continued right up to the hearing - it was in fact delayed because it was touch and go.

    Tim
    reply

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