Broadcast Professional, Music Lover, Involved Citizen Dedicated to Truth, Justice and Accountability Another great passion I have is old trucks. Mine is a 1949 Chevy, which you can see and read all about here. This truck has been in my family for 30 years, and will continue to be even after I'm gone. It is not for sale, but you can get a shirt (and several other items) with a picture of it! Be sure to check out the shirt link when you get to the blog... WHY I'M HERE In 1999 I wrote an Internet radio business plan that bankers loved, but not enough to bankroll me without collateral. So I spent what little money I had and then sought venture capital in an effort to make it happen. In the midst of this process, controversy erupted regarding webcaster performance royalties being demanded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). These insane per song/per listener fees were in addition to the ASCAP/BMI royalties that traditional radio has always paid, and that most webcasters had no problem with. But it's clear that with the unprecedented additional performance charges, big business was trying to monopolize Internet music distribution by making it impossible for independents to operate. Unfortunately, many great Internet radio sites did go under because of the RIAA scam. It was during the course of seeking help on this issue that I discovered my elected "representatives" weren't really interested in helping at all. My naiveté about our reps actually being there for US disappeared quickly. Other than a couple of generic response letters, senators Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman offered nothing. I met my Congressman at the time, Democrat James Maloney, who made no serious effort to even make it look like he understood how the RIAA was trying to eliminate independent webcasters. I also met his replacement, Republican Nancy Johnson, personally handing her a letter detailing the issue. She promised to get to the bottom of it. Upon following up with her staff, the letter had been conveniently lost and everybody was clueless. In addition to a six-inch stack of subsequent communication with her office in the form of faxes and printed emails, I had many conversations with Johnson's legislative director, who never even pretended to be interested in a level playing field for independents. At one point he actually belittled the idea of Internet radio, claiming nobody would listen. The already existing studies that proved him wrong (online radio listening was exploding) meant nothing. Needless to say, I was incensed. It was suddenly crystal clear that Washington and big business were enjoying a cozy relationship at our expense. I wanted to know how deep the corruption ran, so I started digging into everything, doing a bunch of writing and eventually launching my YouTube channel in early 2007. It seems odd, but I suppose I should actually thank the idiots. They helped to make me a far more responsible citizen. Dismiss me by placing a convenient label if it makes you feel better, but understand that your relief is artificial. I don't live in that fantasyland. I'd rather walk in the real world, with people who understand that dealing with problems head on is the only way to even have a chance of solving them, and that real success requires real effort. I am not Liberal, Conservative, Democrat or Republican. I'm an AMERICAN. My country comes first. Far too many partisans have forgotten this simple rule, and we have been living the consequences for far too long. My agenda consists of the effort to accurately inform people, offering substance and truth they will never see on their television, to encourage them to do the homework and discover the truth for themselves, and to follow that truth wherever it may lead. I will never claim perfection, but the effort will always be thorough and honest. JOHNPERRYONLINE-HOME webs.com free web hosting |