Posted on 01/20/2006 2:57:38 AM PST by Panerai
Howard Stern might have a new bone to pick now that he’s moved his risque show to Sirius Satellite Radio.
And this time it isn’t with the Federal Communications Commission.
The King of All Media is fighting some feisty subjects who don’t want to pay to hear the popular shock jock.
Sirius and Stern’s production company, One Twelve Inc., fired off a cease-and-desist letter to at least one Web site that was rebroadcasting the radio host’s show — billed the “Show” — as an audio stream.
The letter, which was e-mailed to the administrators of www.hearhoward.org and www.hearhoward100.com, called the online broadcasts “blatant” and “willful infringements,” and threatened lawsuits unless the audio streams were immediately removed.
But a Boston area man who says he is the administrator of www.hearhoward.org said he didn’t consider streaming Stern over the Internet theft.
“We’re not making any money off of it. We’re not selling it,” the administrator said, adding that he was a subscriber to Sirius. “I don’t think that they should be charging someone to listen to their service, especially . . . people who don’t have the access to the service.”
The man, who asked not to be identified by name, provided Internet registration data that appeared to verify him as administrator of the site.
A Sirius spokesman called the audio streams online piracy and said the company would do “whatever it takes” to enforce its copyrights. “I think Howard, like us, would appreciate people paying for his show,” said Patrick Reilly of Sirius.
Offering audio online could be a sign of early rebellion from some Stern fans dismayed by the controversial figure’s move to subscription based radio. Stern’s show was broadcast on 104.1 WBCN-FM in Boston before the jock jumped to satellite earlier this month.
Sirius downplayed the issue yesterday. “We’re seeing an enthusiastic response” from Stern’s fans, Reilly said, adding the company added over 2 million subscribers last year.
I should add, in Howard's case, it's going to be awful tough to defend this action as "protecting intellectual content". : )
Should be interesting.
I think the folks over at www.hearhoward100.com
and www.hearhoward.org, should answer their phones when Howard and/or Serius calls with a taped "baba booey...baba booey" and hang up....at leat that would seem appropriate to me.......
Schmega dance, Jerry.
Seems to me that with the prevalence of various forms of file sharing that the only value left for certain media is the ability to charge people for listining/viewing the performance live. Were these delayed rebroadcasts? All the shows seem to be readily available via torrents or usenet almost immediately that day. There is no possible way to stop this and I think it is proven that only a strong business model can prevent intellectual property theft.
Doesn't matter if the "intellectual content" wallows in the mud or shines like a mighty beacon from the mountain tops.
Content is content.
If you had the technology, would you rebroadcast HBO?
You're correct. Howard will simply have to drop the "intellectual" part to be truthful, but either way the law is on his side.
HBO rebroadcasts itself. Over and over , and over.
I think the use of the term "intellectual property" has no relation to the subjective quality of the content. Commentary on the content seems to have no relation to the crux of this debate. Discounting his right to protect his product because you don't agree with his form of entertainment is pretty lame. Nobody forces this on anyone, especially when it is a paid service.
The rise of technology and the ability to disseminate information/media quickly and at a low cost has made many of the old models obsolete. RIAA, MPAA, et al can only resort to litigation in an effort to stem the tide. They completely ignore the fundamental breakdown of their aged distribution scheme and are slowly but surely alienating their consumer base. Definition of 'rebroadcast' is surely do for scrutiny. What if someone were to play their Sirius radio real loud so that many surrounding non-subscribers could listen? My opinion on broadcast media is that once the signal leaves the satellite, it becomes public property. Music, software, dvds, well that's a harder nut to crack. Sony's recent efforts to stall copying clearly has blown up in the most spectacular way. Technology created this issue and likely will provide a solution, but not if it is applied to an archaic business model.
But...but... aren't these streams helping Stern's speech be more "free"? Didn't Howie throw temper-tantrums because the FCC violated his right to "free speech"?
"I think the use of the term "intellectual property" has no relation to the subjective quality of the content"
well duh! guess I should have written (sarc) or something to so that everyone who read it would have gotten the drift that I don't think much of Mr. Stern. I could care less about his legal problems and although I have embraced the capitalist mantra, I cant help feeling a little schadenfreude at any discomfort that it might be causing him.
Gotcha, I agree there is a certain amount of pleasure in seeing his empire subverted so easily. I'd argue that those that pay choose to do so for the convenience. If the pricepoint were a bit lower, then the hassle of downloading or listening online would quickly lose its attraction. I hate to even say it or think it, but maybe internet access could be charged based on bandwidth usage. If someone is surpassing say, 2GB per day, likely there is some type of downloading going on. Unfortunately, distribution of those revenues is still an issue.
Such as requiring cars to give way to horses under any and all circumstances, demanding that cars only operate at selected hours and on selected streets, requiring that a car be preceded by a flagman, etc.
This is a great parallel and I could not agree more.
Freedoms go so far in Howard's world. His.
That link takes me to Ebay, where the domain name is being auctioned off.
-"www.HearHoward100.com - Howard Stern Domain - CHEAP"-
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5856874264&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:1
www.HearHoward100.com - Howard Stern Domain - CHEAP
Domain on eBay for auction.
The important this is that we know that if we all disagree with someone, and don't like their show, then its ok to rip them off.
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