MAP and PISC call for changes to national broadband application

The Media Access Project (MAP) and the Public Interest Spectrum Coalition (PISC) filed ex parte comments with the Federal Communications Commission on Aug. 28, raising concerns about M2Z's application to provide free wireless service on a national basis. "Though MAP and PISC believe M2Z's application could provide significant benefits to the American people, the proposed license conditions do not adequately ensure that M2Z would operate under open device rules or network neutrality rules of sufficient stringency to confer the full benefits of innovation and free expression to the public," according to MAP. Read comments here.

OPEN CALL: Eyebeam's Winter 2008 call for residents

Eyebeam is now accepting applications for Winter 2008 residencies. In addition to our preexistent residency program, this season we're very pleased to announce an additional opportunity for artist support: the inaugural Commission for Resident Artists, underwritten by Dewar's. Details about the commission, which will offer an additional subsidy to two residents a season, are detailed in a separate section below. The application deadline for the Winter 2008 residency season (which runs from January – June) is September 17, 2007. All applicants will be informed of their status by November 2007.

Eyebeam residencies support the creative research, production and presentation of initiatives that query art, technology and culture. The residency is a period of concentration and immersion in artistic investigation, daring research or experimental production of visionary expression, applications and projects. Past initiatives have ranged from moving image, sound and physical computing works to technical prototypes, installations and public interventions. The ideal resident will both contribute to and benefit from the collective environment at Eyebeam, and will embrace the spirit of openness shared across the organization: open source, open content and open distribution. Residents are encouraged to participate in public events including workshops, demonstrations of research in progress, panel discussions, and on-line releases, in addition to regularly scheduled open studio events. Therefore, we do ask that artists include in their proposal examples of how they might like to contribute to Eyebeam's public programming. The program term is from January to June with the potential for extension and/or re-application. Residents will be selected from an open call, based on the quality of the work or research being proposed, the availability of the necessary tools and skills to support the work, and in consideration of the overarching research themes and activities of the organization.

Eyebeam's research themes bring together creative practitioners and expert external participants to develop new research leading to possible public outcomes including seminars, public discussion and exhibition. Research themes for 2008 include (though will not be limited to):
Energy, Technology and Sustainability
Urban research, urban interventions and media in public space
Artists and creative technologists interested in these research areas are particularly encouraged to apply for residencies.

Residencies include:
$5,000 honorarium
24/7 access to Eyebeam's Chelsea facility in New York City, including equipment and technical expertise from Eyebeam staff and Fellows. The potential for collaborative exchange with other residents and Eyebeam fellows, as well as support from interns Residents are encouraged to work onsite at Eyebeam for as much of their residency as possible, in order to both contribute to and gain from the collective, collaborative context of the labs. International applicants are welcome to apply, though Eyebeam will not cover additional travel or accommodation expenses. We are, however, happy to work with selected applicants, to help them to secure funds to cover these expenses. International residents are responsible for securing their own visas for the residency period. International applicants are encouraged to apply now for Summer 2008 residencies. Up to three residencies will be offered in Winter 2008.
http://eyebeam.org/production/production.php?page=aircall

Radio Communities: The Other Side of The Electronic Divide

Transom features this conversation from November 2006 at the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at New School for Social Research, between activists and artists about radio as a community tool in emerging countries. Panelists included Pete Tridish, founder, Prometheus Radio Project; William H. Siemering, President, Developing Radio Partners; Khin Phyu Htway, student, The New School and contributor to Voice of America, Burmese Service; Gregory Whitehead, writer and artist. There is also an mp3 of an opening Whitehead performance.

Transom describes the conversation this way:

Using radio to create community, creating community radio. Why expect radio to do this? It's malleable, anonymous, inexpensive to build, easy to transmit and receive, relatively speaking, even when the simple act of owning the box is punishable by an indefinite jail term. Radio is always possible. It is the link between local community and the global community. Radio creates a dimension in which various communities can meet, exchange, discuss and develop ideas, transforming the way we define notions of geography and public space. What political, cultural and humanitarian goals can be served by this medium exclusively? How does radio function as a tool for shared information? We started with a presentation from Gregory Whitehead called, "Here Comes Everybody" and then moved to a panel discussion. The panel, and audience of fifty, focused on different ways of using radio as a kind of glue for creating community both here and abroad.

Another offer from SoundExchange - still not a solution

From Broadcast Law Blog:

Yesterday, SoundExchange sent to many small webcasters an agreement that would allow many to continue to operate under the terms of the Small Webcaster Settlement Act as crafted back in 2002, with modifications that would limit the size of the audience that would be covered by the percentage of revenue royalties that a small webcaster would pay. A press release from SoundExchange about the offer can be found on their website by clicking on the "News" tab. This is a unilateral offer by SoundExchange, and does not reflect an agreement with the Small Commercial Webcasters (the “SCWs”) who participated in the Copyright Royalty Board proceeding to set the rates for 2006-2010 and who are currently appealing the CRB decision to the US Court of Appeals (see our notes on the appeal, here). The SoundExchange offer, while it may suffice for some small operators who do not expect their businesses to grow beyond the limits set out in the SWSA (and who only play music from SoundExchange artists - see the limitations described below), still does not address many of the major issues that the SCWs raised when SoundExchange first made a similar proposal in May, and should not be viewed by Congress or the public as a resolution of the controversy over the webcasting royalties set out by the CRB decision.

The proposal of SoundExchange simply turns their offer made in May, into a formal proposal. It does not address the criticisms leveled against the offer when first made in May, that the monetary limits on a small webcaster do not permit small webcasters to grow their businesses – artificially condemning them to be forever small, at best minimally profitable operations, in essence little more than hobbies. The provisions of the Small Webcasters Settlement Act were appropriate in 2002 when they were adopted to cover streaming for the period from 1998 through 2005, as the small webcasters were just beginning to grow their businesses in a period when streaming technologies were still new to the public and when these companies were still exploring ways to make money from their operations. Now that the public has begun to use streaming technologies on a regular basis, these companies are looking to grow their businesses into real businesses that can be competitive in the vastly expanding media marketplace. The rates and terms proposed by SoundExchange simply do not permit that to occur.

To receive investment necessary to grow, the SCWs cannot be limited to $1.25 million in revenue. No investor will invest in a business which, when it reaches an artificial revenue threshold, essentially is forced to go bankrupt – as all projections show that the CRB royalties would exceed total revenue of a SCW even if it makes more than $1.25 million in revenue.

The new restriction added in this offer by SoundExchange, one that requires a small webcaster to pay at the CRB rate for all listening that exceeds 5,000,000 aggregate monthly tuning hours, would already have some SCWs paying substantial sums in addition to the percentage of revenue royalty. And, at the growth rates projected for some SCWs, the amount necessary to pay such overages could exceed the $1.25 million revenue threshold – exceeding the amount of revenue that a small webcaster is allowed to earn under the SWSA provisions.

Even more importantly, it must be noted that the offer by SoundExchange does not allow a webcaster to play all music for their 10-12% of revenue as did the Small Webcaster Settlement Act – it only allows them to play music of SoundExchange members. For all music from artists who are not SoundExchange members, the full CRB-determined royalty would have to be paid. Thus, a webcaster will have to assess its music choices, and play only the songs released by SoundExchange members (principally the major labels and some independent labels) rather than the diversity of music from small labels and independent artists, the kinds of music that the statutory royalty was supposed to make easier to play through the “one-stop shop” that a statutory license provides to an Internet radio service.

SoundExchange has informally indicated that it will continue discussions as to the concerns of the SCWs. The only way to resolve these issues is through meaningful negotiations, or through legislation like that proposed in the Internet Radio Equality Act. Unilateral proposals simply don’t address all the issues that have caused so much outrage over the CRB decision. In order for these independent companies to build profitable businesses that will promote music and be able to pay reasonable royalties, something more than what SoundExchange has offered must be available.

MIT Media Lab Owl Project employs cell phones

The goal of this work is to explore how we can use technology to augment our understanding of bird populations in order to allow these populations to speak to us about their habitat. In particular, in this collaboration between the MIT Media Laboratory and Maine Audubon , we use cellular technology to augment the process by which a group of volunteers collects information for an owl census in Maine.
The methodology was developed in a pilot census of Connecticut's owlpopulation, conducted in the summer of 2006. In this study, we demonstrated that the audio quality of cell phones was sufficient for the discovery and interaction with owls. In this project, the cell phone is used to make the owl call and to record the response. The success of the pilot suggests that this small, portable technology can replace the conventional high-quality audio survey broadcasting and recording equipment.

In our work in Maine we will deploy more cell nodes for calling owls and recording their response. We anticipate that each deployed node will result in several hours of recording per night per phone.

With this project, we hope to gain insight into the social networking processes of collaborative interpretation and annotation of a shared database; knowledge representation for the bird-census domain; and the design issues involved in creating and maintaining a website for community scientific collaboration.

The cellular survey may also provide data which suggest insights into questions about the hearing range of owls, duplication of vocalizing individual responses in adjacent experiment sites, the response rate of owls due to current weather or human presence, and comparison between trigger-based and naturally occurring responses in surveys. In addition, specific signal processing and communication technologies will be field-tested.

New WFUV music channel on the way

From WFUV:

A generous grant from the New York State Music Fund kicks off our next project: An indie music channel for younger fans.

We're very excited to announce that WFUV has been awarded a $500,000 grant from The New York State Music Fund to support the development of a second full-time music radio service. Building on WFUV's award-winning programming, the station will feature established and emerging indie rock, electronica, world, dance and other new sounds, presented in a style that will appeal to music fans in their 20s and 30s. This non-commercial service will be available via Internet and mobile streaming audio and, in the New York area, as an HD Radio channel at 90.7 FM. Scheduled to debut in Fall 2008, it will complement WFUV's existing service, which will continue in its present format. You'll still be able to hear all the programs you enjoy at WFUV.

"This is an excellent opportunity for us to broaden our service and widen our musical offerings as we celebrate our 60th anniversary," said Ralph Jennings, WFUV's General Manager. "We're deeply grateful to The New York State Music Fund for its leadership support of this $1.2 million project and for its investment in the future of New York's independent artists and audiences," Jennings added.

The award was one the largest made by the Fund - which has given nearly 400 grants totaling more than $35 million - and is on par with those made to other leading New York performing arts institutions.

"We're most excited about showcasing what New York has to offer. Our city boasts one of the greatest, and most multicultural, local music scenes in the world," added WFUV Program Director Chuck Singleton, who, along with WFUV Music Director Rita Houston, will oversee the project. "Acts like Antibalas, Forro In The Dark and The Hold Steady have no problem selling out venues all over town, yet they presently don't have a home on the radio in New York City. A second stream enables us to play deserving local acts in the same set as Bjork, M.I.A. or Arcade Fire and, at the same time, better serve New York's musically-adventurous listening audiences by introducing them to something different."

WFUV plans to develop the new service over 2007-2008, working with artists, labels, music writers, web sites, bloggers and venues across the city. The station will also tap an emerging generation of radio talent for its new air staff, young New Yorkers with a passion for hearing, sharing and discussing music. In part, the music selection will be listener-driven.

OPEN CALL: LMCC grants

The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council has two grants available.

The Fund for Creative Communities provides grants of up to $5,000 to nonprofit organizations presenting high quality arts projects in Manhattan communities.
For more information: http://www.lmcc.net/grants/boroughwide/fundcreativecomm/index.html .

Manhattan Community Arts Fund, for individual artists and small nonprofit organizations, provides grants of up to $2,000 for your arts project.
For more information: http://www.lmcc.net/grants/boroughwide/manncommartfund/index.html .

Application deadline: September 18, 2007.

OPEN CALL: Improvisation as a unifying agent in education, arts, and society

Building Bridges: Improvisation as a Unifying Agent in Education, Arts, and Society

Featured Artists and Presenters: Jane Ira Bloom, Mark Dresser, Mazen Kerbaj, Oliver Lake, Bennett Reimer, Michael Zerang, Association for the Advancement of Creative Music.

Creating connections is one of the most prominent themes in today's world. Whether forging treaties between hostile nations, creating ties between diverse cultures in today's global society, melding ideas and artistic influences, or negotiating the intricacies of human relationship; the capacity to integrate disparate perspectives and constituencies into a coherent whole—to build bridges—is central to meaning and progress in most every area of life.

Recognizing improvisation as a powerful tool for achieving this integration, the International Society for Improvised Music invites proposals for performances, workshops, and papers based on this theme for its second international conference.

The theme may be construed broadly: Improvisation may be considered as a powerful way in which to engage with music as an individual or with others; as a pedagogical tool that bridges diverse areas of musical training such as performance, theory, and composition; a vehicle for creativity across fields as diverse as business, science, and sport; a means for integrating one's own creative awareness through peak or transcendent states; a lens for interdisciplinary investigation into areas such as complex systems, cognition, consciousness, and sociology; or a catalyst for dissolving ethnic, gender, and other boundaries. These are just a few examples of
possible angles; proposals that pursue other approaches are welcome. ISIM encourages proposals from as diverse a cross-section of performers, pedagogues, and scholars as possible.

Deadline for proposals: Sept 1, 2007. Notification date: Sept 20, 2007

Proposal Form is available on the ISIM website www.isimprov.org.

For more information please contact: Sarah Weaver, ISIM Conference Director, sarah@isimprov.org 734-277-2690.

Putting radio frequency modules into your DIY projects

From Boing Boing

In the latest MAKE Weekend Projects video, Bre Pettis and Joe Grand show you how to use radio frequency modules to make wireless gizmos. Click here fro mp4 and mov files.

Webcast royalty bill, negotiations hit impasse

From Eliot Van Buskirk in Wired:

A federal bill that would reset music royalties at a more affordable rate for thousands of internet radio stations is losing steam in the House of Representatives, raising new fears for the future of webcasting.
First-time webcasting fees proposed by recording industry royalty-administration group SoundExchange took effect last month, setting off a wave of protests and last-minute negotiations aimed at reducing the hit for smaller webcasters and capping rates for sites that support hundreds of customized stations.
Negotiations are ongoing, but chances of broad legislative relief in the form of the Internet Radio Equality Act, or IREA, are fading fast, according to several people familiar with the effort. Rather, Congress appears resolved to let SoundExchange and the various strata of webcasters negotiate individual settlements.
"We met with members of the House and Senate judiciary committees this week, and while they all were supportive of small webcasters, time after time we heard the IREA was not going to pass," said Rusty Hodge, founder of webcaster SomaFM.
A legislative setback could make it harder to dislodge the new fees, which took effect last month after a federal appeals court refused to postpone the payment deadline. With the threat of congressional backlash fading, SoundExchange could find little incentive to budge from its current position.
The importance of legislative pressure in the negotiation process was underscored late Thursday. In a joint statement, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) said they were "troubled by the lack of negotiating progress" and promised to take action to push the IREA bill forward if agreements are not made by Sept. 3. Given the lack of support in the House, however, the chances of the bill becoming law currently look remote.
SoundExchange has already proposed changes that could relieve small and custom-streaming sites from charges they could not possibly afford to pay, at least in the short term. Many expect a small-webcaster deal to be done by early September, when Congress goes back into session. But the deal on the table hasn't changed since SoundExchange extended an offer in May to charge them 10 percent of gross revenue under $250,000, or 12 percent of gross revenues over $250,000, with a revenue cap at $1.25 million.
Webcasters say they are wary of the deal because of a provision that would shift webcasters from the percentage rate to the higher per-stream rate once they exceed certain usage caps.
"That's the sticking point," said SomaFM's Hodge. "In our optimistic projections, SomaFM won't hit the revenue cap for a couple years, (but) when we hit it, our royalties would go from $150,000 a year to over $2 million a year. "
For larger webcasters, such as custom-streaming site Pandora, coming to terms could take longer. Talks are ongoing over a proposal to cap per-station fees, but Tim Westergren, co-founder of Pandora, said there has been "no material change -- we're in a slow negotiation process now."
Reaching a settlement with SoundExchange could take even longer for the largest webcasters, which have been given no hint of a deal beyond the current Copyright Royalty Board rates. In the absence of any alternative, they will likely seek to strike deals directly with the major labels rather than accepting SoundExchange's mandatory license.