Day of Silence observed today for online radio

Many of you may have noticed some of your favorite radio and internet music stations not playing any tunes today. Hundreds of radio stations and internet broadcasters altered or silenced their streams in order to protest recent increases in internet radio rates. Participating stations include California faves like KALX, KUSF, KPFA, KCRW, & KZSU, as well as a host of other terrestrial/streaming radio stations nation-wide. Also included are services like Pandora, Rhapsody, Live365, Yahoo's LaunchCast, MTV Radio, & dozens of internet-only stations.From Save Net Radio:

The future of Internet radio is in immediate danger. Royalty rates for webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent ruling and are due to go into effect on July 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!). To protest these rates and encourage the millions of net radio listeners to take action and contact their Congressional representatives, a national Day of Silence will be held June 26. Webcasters across the country will observe this day of silence in a number of ways, including dedicating entire programs to the campaign to save Internet Radio and broadcasting complete silence.For an updated list of the participants in this national day of silence, visit Radio And Internet News (RAIN).Net radio listeners, please excuse the interruption of your normal programming and take action to ensure this silence is not permanent. Call your Congressional Representatives today.

Recently, NPR joined the fight against the recent increases.