From Martha Graybow via Reuters:

A U.S. appeals court on Monday overruled federal regulators who decided that expletives uttered on broadcast television violated decency standards, a major victory for TV networks.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission had ruled in March 2006 that News Corp.'s Fox television network had violated decency regulations when singer Cher and actress Nicole Richie blurted out profanities during the 2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards' shows. However, no fines were issued.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, in a 2-1 ruling, said that the FCC's "new policy sanctioning 'fleeting expletives' is arbitrary and capricious." The court sent the matter back to the commission for further proceedings.

Fox had challenged the FCC's decision, arguing that the government's decency standard was unclear, violated free speech protections and that the rulings had contradicted findings in past cases. Both sides presented oral arguments before the U.S. appeals court panel in December 2006.

In their written ruling on Monday, Judges Rosemary Pooler and Peter Hall said that the FCC policy on indecency standards "represents a significant departure from positions previously taken by the agency and relied on by the broadcast industry" and that the commission "has failed to articulate a reasoned basis for this change in policy." Judge Pierre Leval issued a dissenting opinion, writing that he believed the FCC "gave a reasoned explanation for its change of standard."

free103point9 Online Radio
May 2007 Top 40

1. David S. Ware Quartet, Renunciation (Aum Fidelity)
2. Joseph Nechvatal, Viral Symph0ny (iea)
With Matthew Underwood, Andrew Deutsch, and Stephane Sikora.
3. Ting Ting Jahe, 18(16) (Winds Measure Recordings)
4. Uncle Woody Sullender + Greg Davis, The Tempest is Over (Dead CEO)
5. William Parker + Hamid Drake, First Communion/Piercing the Veil 2xCD (Aum Fidelity)
6. The Dust Dive Flash, Tens of Thousands (free103point9 Audio Dispatch 029)
7. Jeff Arnal + Dietcich Eichmann, LP (Broken Research)
8. USA Is A Monster + Mudboy/USA Is A Monster + Kites, split CD (self)
9. Chris Forsyth + Nate Wooley, The Duchess of Oysterville (Creative Sources Recordings)
10. (), "Autecicadas/ocean_db_crash_nue" 7" (Parentheismusic.com)
11. Andy Graydon, At Bay (Winds Measure Recordings)
12. Albrecht Maurer + Norbert Rodenkirchen, Hidden Fresco (Nemu)
13. Mike Tamburo, Language of the Birds and Other Fantasies box set (New American Folk Hero)
14. The Spiritualaires of Hurtsboro, Alabama, Singing Songs of Praise (CaseQuarter)
15. Various artists, Selections from Peter Stuyvesant's Ghost (free103point9)
With Michelle Nagai, Edmund Mooney, Andrea Polli, Mike Hallenbeck, Ryan Holsopple, Renee Ridgway, Jonathan Zalben, Hanneke de Feijter, Saskia Janssen, Kaisu Koski, and others.
16. Ignaz Schick + Jorg Maria Zeger + Burkhard Beins with Keith Rowe and with Charlwmagne Palestine, Perlonex Tensions (Nexsound)
17. MPLD, Lapse Phaser (self)
18. Tripwire, Looking in My Ear (Creative Sources)
19. Seejayno, Sedainty (Shinkoyo/Here See/Skulls of Heaven/BOC Sound Laboratories)
20. Mouthus, For the Great Slave Lakes (Threelobed)
21. Jonas Braasch, Global Reflections (Deep Listening)
22. Droopy Septum, Howling Lands, Whispering Leaves (NAFH)
23. Parts & Labor, Escapers One (Broklyn Beats)
24. Mudboy, LP Bootleg(breadandanimals.com)
25. Eliane Radigue, Jetsun Mila (Lovely Music)
26. Mike Tamburo + Ken Camden, Menken and Maas (NAFH)
27. Kotra & Zavoloka, Wag the Swing (Kvitnu.com)
28. Robert Horton, Sleep, Wake, Hope and Then (NAFH)
29. John Morton, Solo Traveler (innova)
30. Eric Carbonara, Seven Pieces for Solo Guitar (Nada Sound Studio)
31. Edmund Mooney, Happy Trails (self)
32. Matt McDowell, Headlong Into the Fire (NAFH)
33. Steve Stoll, Earthling (self)
34. Gratkowski + Fox + Menestres + Davis, ORM (Umbrella Recordings)
35. Phantom Limb & Tetuzi Akiyama, Hot Ginger (Archive)
Recorded June, 2006 at free103point9 Project Space in Brooklyn.
36. Sixes, Cursed Beast (enterruption)
37. Matt Weston, Resistance Cruisers 3" CD (7272 Music)
38. Gay Bomb/Ironing split LP (Hymn)
39. ZMF Trio, Circle the Path (Drip Audio)
40. Wether, Skin Atonement (Hymn)

Send submissions for airplay to free103point9, 5662 Route 23, Acra, NY 12405. (Do not e-mail mp3s, or links to mp3s, it will be a waste of your time. Mailed submissions will be considered.)

In the fall of 2007, Exit Art will present Electric Lab. This exhibition is dedicated to the scientist Nicola Tesla, who wanted to provide the entire world with free access to electricity. As Tesla discovered, electricity is one of life’s most fundamental forces; it courses through the heart and powers our computers. Today, the shortage and high cost of electricity is a pressing contemporary issue. For Electric Lab, we are asking artists to envision solutions to the impending electricity crisis by creating works that imagine alternative sources of electricity, suggest new ways to access electricity, and establish scenarios in which to experience the power of electricity. Proposals due June 15, 2007.

How to Apply:
Proposals may be for work in any medium. Please submit a one page description of your project idea: a sketch of the proposed project; a resume; and documentation of your previous work (10 slides or images on CD, please send images at lowest resolution so they open quickly, or a 3-5 minute NTSC VHS video or DVD). Please include a self addressed stamped envelope for the return of your work. You will be notified by email of your involvement in the exhibition so please include an email address with your materials. Exit Art is not responsible for returning works submitted without a SASE.
Send Submissions to:
Exit Art
Electric Lab
475 Tenth Avenue
New York, NY 10018
Or email electriclab@exitart.org

From New Scientist:

It could become an indispensable safety device for outdoor enthusiasts - a cellphone that warns you to take cover if lightning is heading your way. Lightning can pose a major risk to people taking part in outdoor pursuits, such as golfing. So Nokia proposes a warning system that uses the fact that a lightning bolt is an electric current that emits radio waves. Each bolt produces frequencies between 10 hertz and 5 gigahertz, and the distribution of these signals depends on how far away the lightning is. The multiple receivers in a phone, such as Bluetooth, FM, tri-band GSM, Wi-Fi and RFID, can be tuned to pick up these signals, says Nokia (US patent application 2007/0085525). Software will then interpret them, work out the distance to the lightning, and tell you if strikes are getting closer.

From Reporters Without Borders:

Reporters Without Borders voiced deep concern today about two armed attacks on privately-owned Radio Dijla in Baghdad on 3 May that left one person dead and two wounded.

“The two attacks on Radio Dijla, one after the other, were like military raids,” Reporters Without Borders said. “This independent station was assaulted by an organised military force equipped with heavy artillery. The attack took place in central Baghdad without any intervention from police units patrolling nearby. The Iraqi authorities must shoulder some of the blame for this latest episode in the cycle of violence against journalists and the media.”

About 10 gunmen launched the first of the two attacks on Radio Dijla in the west Baghdad neighbourhood of Al Jami’a at around 9 a.m. The employees were able to hold them off using firearms previously provided by the management as security precaution. At the same time, four employees eluded a kidnap attempt by fleeing into the stations’s premises.

The station appealed to the police and military authorities for help, but no help was sent during the attack, which lasted half an hour. The gunmen shot security guard Adel Al-Badri dead and wounded two other employees.

The second attack took place several hours later, after all the employees had abandoned the building, and was presumably carried out by the same group. They set explosive charges in the building’s first floor and started a fire, destroying the station’s transmitter and causing a lot of other damage. Radio Dijla nonetheless hoped to resume broadcasting within 72 hours.

Bending Sound
Queer Experiments with Audio
Call for Work and Proposals

Deadline: June 29, 2007

Curator working with MIX NYC Queer Experimental Film Festival, expanding festival programs to include experimental music and audio component. This is a new project and therefore applicants should feel free to contact curator. MIX NYC’s 20th Anniversary Festival takes place in Lower Manhattan, November 2007.

Application:
Looking for new innovative approaches to experiences of sound. Individuals are invited to submit:

- Proposals for performances working with sound and/or multi-media (up to 10 minutes) for inclusion in live audio event as part of the festival in November 2007.
- Less than 10 minute audio recording to be included in a free sound compilation with MIXnyc program book 2007.
- Or would like to collaborate and create with other artists/musicians for inclusion in the above. Applicants will be matched up to work creatively based on either a live event or audio recording.

Basic A/V equipment will be available (TV’s, DVD player, Microphones, LCD projector, ect) will be provided but because this is a new project, any special technical equipment needed for the proposal (turntables, special effects, light activated sonar devices, ect) applicant will need to provide.

Proposals should include:
1 – Contact Information
2 – Proposal Summary if proposing a performance (up to 500 words)
3 – Work Samples: VHS – NTSC Format, DVD, CD-Rom, Audio CD, Cassette Tapes, website, images (jpg, tiff, pdf) or audio files (mp3, wav, aiff)
4 – Work Sample Summary: A short description of each work submitted including artist(s) name, title, date, medium, venue, duration, and applicant’s role (if collaborative work).
5 – Optional Information (short bio, reviews, photos, ect.)
6 – SASE for return of materials if sending via snail-mail

For questions please contact Ethan Shoshan at disiterate@yahoo.com


Send Materials
Via Email to Ethan Shoshan at disiterate@yahoo.com (up to 8mb emails)
Or
Snail Mail to:
Ethan Shoshan
MIXnyc Audio 2007
486 Greenwich St
New York, NY 10013


All applicants will be notified in July
You are encouraged to submit before the deadline!

MIX NYC promotes, produces, and preserves experimental media-from film and video to performance and music-that is rooted in the lives, politics, and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and otherwise queer-identified people. Founded in 1987, MIX has earned a reputation as a crucible for artist-driven innovation with an established international influence on the world of experimental media. MIX is unique among arts and community-building organizations for its work on behalf of queer experimental media artists, supporting their production of new work, and making that work accessible to the public. For almost two decades, we have worked to create a home for queer experimental media. MIX is also unique among New York City's cultural institutions. The annual New York Queer Experimental Film Festival, our most visible and longest-running program, showcases films and videos that literally go unseen in other venues. We define "experimental" broadly to mean not only films made using unorthodox techniques, but also those that deal with subject matter outside of the mainstream. In this respect, the MIX festival stands literally at the avant garde-the forefront of artistic innovation-and serves as a proving ground for new, socially conscious film. MIX NYC actively engages communities around the city and the nation through on-site local and touring screenings. We also preserve aging queer experimental films, such as the early 16mm work of Marguerite Paris, to guarantee its endurance for the future; and we operate a summer-long youth media training program to provide a new generation of queer filmmakers with the tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information on MIX NYC and programs go to – www.mixnyc.org

About Curator:
Ethan Shoshan is a scientist, activist, writer, teacher, and artist working with various media (performance, video, sculpture, textiles, clothes, dance, technology, internet, & collaboratives) born in Brooklyn, NY. He is a collaborator/co-founder of the it/EQ community arts collective, working to promote arts/artists in a community exchange through showcasing vital unknown artists, providing multicultural exchanges, and visibility to minority or underrepresented people. He has shown and performed at Collective Unconscious, Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Dixon Place, Andrea Rosen Gallery, Galeria De La Raza, 92nd St Y, the Kitchen and other alternative spaces in New York, Washington DC, Chicago, and California. Media attention include articles in The Washington Post, NY Times, Manhattan Network Neighborhood TV, Bronx Cable TV, Brooklyn Cable Access, and various small press magazines and web-articles. He has also received a grant from the Puffin Foundation for his community based projects. For MIXnyc 2006, he helped organize/curate TragicBride/FashionVictim – www.mixnyc.org/April10Screening/April10.htm

From Paul Kapustka at GigaOM:

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Thursday that the commission told large telcos to stop blocking calls into numbers for the Iowa-based free calling operations, threatening punitive actions if the carriers didn’t comply.

While the immediate FCC pressure was a victory for the Iowa telcos and Internet calling concerns whose services had been blocked by AT&T and Qwest, left unsolved is the separate question of whether or not the large carriers have to pay up the millions in disputed connection fees into the Iowa-based operations. But Martin, after a scheduled public appearance in Silicon Valley, made it clear that the commission took immediate action against the moves to block or restrict calls, saying they were in violation of FCC rules.

“We actually contacted the companies that were listed in the press [reports] and said our rules prohibit you from blocking consumers’ access to any of the service providers,” Martin said. Martin said the informal communication to the big telcos who were blocking calls was that if they didn’t stop immediately, the commission would start a formal process for legal recourse within days, and “would end up taking action as we saw necessary.”

According to Martin, all the offending telcos responded and said they would stop blocking — sort of. “One had stopped blocking, but we heard complaints the next week that they were restricting access, sort of narrowing the pipe,” said Martin. “We called them back and said, no, no, you can’t artificially degrade [service] either.”

On whether or not the FCC would force AT&T and Qwest to pay disputed access-charge bills, Martin said that was a separate issue, and covered by petitioning processes that might take further time to resolve. “If you have a dispute about the intercarrier compensation rules, you can file petitions, and come to the commission to get redress,” Martin said. “But you can’t just stop letting consumers make those calls.”

From Broadcast Law Blog:

On the same day that many webcasters were on Capitol Hill lobbying for the Internet Radio Equality Act, the Copyright Royalty Board issued its Final Determination of Rates and Terms today, and it was published in the Federal Register. That action starts the clock ticking on appeals which must now be filed in 30 days. In the Final Determination, the Board included a few revisions in its initial decision, reflecting the issues that it addressed in response to the Rehearing motions - including provisions adding a transitional period of two years during which webcasters can pay using an Aggregate Tuning Hour formula instead of paying based on each performance. Surprisingly, the Board also amended the rules that it adopted governing the timing of the first payment under the new royalty rate, making the first payment due 45 days from the end of the month during which the Final Determination was issued. As the decision was issued today, May 1, that would delay the due date for the first payments under the new royalties until July 15.

The statute governing the Copyright Royalty Board allowed the Library of Congress to review the CRB decision to determine if the Librarian (through the Copyright Office) saw any obvious errors of law. Apparently, the Librarian found none (though that does not mean that there are not issues that can be raised on appeal), leading to the publication of the decision in the Federal Register. Appeals are due 30 days after that publication. On that date, parties file a Notice of Appeal, which provides notice to the Court of Appeals that parties believe that the decision was in error. After those notices are filed, the Court will set briefing schedules and oral arguments. The appeal process that can take a year or more before a decision is rendered.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is going on all weekend in Indio, California. If you are there and want to tune in 103.3-FM, according to Xeni Jardin in Boing Boing: "Wayne Correia is transmitting a low-power FM pirate radio station for the event: Coachella Radio, at 103.3 FM.... Chris Paynie put the tracks together."

From Anne Broache on c\net news.com:

A bill introduced in Congress Thursday aims to overturn a controversial royalty fee increase that Internet radio advocates say threatens to cripple their services.

The "Internet Radio Equality Act," introduced by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Don Manzullo (R-Ill.), would invalidate a March 2 decision by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board that calls for raising royalty rates paid by Net radio operators.

"You can't put an economic chokehold on this emerging force of democracy," Inslee said in a statement e-mailed by a spokeswoman. "There has to be a business model that allows creative Webcasters to thrive and the existing rule removes all the oxygen from this space."

The bill's introduction comes less than two weeks after the CRB declined to reconsider most of its decision. Small Webcasters, National Public Radio, Clear Channel Communications and others had filed petitions for a rehearing. Some have indicated they are considering filing an appeal of the rules in court.

If it were to stand, the CRB's existing ruling (PDF) would result in fee increases on Internet radio operators ranging from 300 to 1,200 percent between 2006 and 2012, according to a group called SaveNetRadio, which has been lobbying Congress for relief.

Specifically, the rules call for rate increases of .08 cents per song per listener retroactive to 2006. They would also climb to .19 cents per song by 2010, which amounts to a 30 percent increase per year. Each station would also have to hand over a minimum $500 royalty payment under the ruling.

The congressmen said they had already received more than 1,000 e-mails and letters opposing the decision.

In addition to repealing that regime, the new House bill offers a compromise: It would set the rate at 7.5 percent of the Webcaster's revenue "directly related to" its transmission of sound recordings, or 33 cents per hour of sound recordings transmitted to a single listener. It would be up to the Webcaster to decide which model to use. That rate would also apply to satellite and cable radio operators, Inslee's office said in a statement.

The proposal drew applause from SaveNetRadio, whose members include Internet radio listeners, Webcasters and artists.

"This bill is a critical step to preserve this vibrant and growing medium, and to develop a truly level playing field where Webcasters can compete with satellite radio," said organization spokesman Jake Ward.

The bill also calls for public radio broadcasters to submit a report to Congress on how to determine rates for their class of services. Andi Sporkin, NPR's vice president of communications, called that idea a fair solution that is consistent with more than 30 years of copyright law, which "has recognized that public radio has a very different mission from commercial media and cannot pay commercial-level royalty rates."

Representatives for SoundExchange, the nonprofit entity that collects the fees and lobbied for the royalty rate changes, said they were still reviewing the bill and had no comment on Thursday.

The organization in the past has defended the CRB's decision as an appropriate way of ensuring artists are adequately compensated when their work is broadcast over the Internet.

From DIY Media:

Fresh off the heels of the FCC's veritable rubber-stamping of the "HD" digital radio protocol, the broadcasters behind iBiquity's technology are wasting no time in preparing to lock down its content. Think about this the next time an NAB executive testifies on Capitol Hill and proclaims the virtue of so-called "free" over-the-air radio.

NDS, a maker of digital media encryption technology, recently signed a deal with iBiquity to provide HD Radio with an encrypted content-delivery system that effectively institutes subscriptions capability on digital radio.

"RadioGuard" is derived from NDS' "VideoGuard" technology, which it claims will allow radio stations to provide "more choices to their listeners, a broader selection of content and more segmentation opportunities for advertisers, all of which provide additional revenue-generating possibilities."

"Consumers," says NDS, "will be able to take advantage of services not currently offered in today’s terrestrial or satellite radio environments. These services include pay-per-listen options for live concerts and events, improved radio reading services for the blind, private channels for emergency operators, and opt-in events sponsored by advertisers." It should be noted that some of these, such as radio reading services for the blind, are already offered for free, provided the listener purchases a special receiver designed to separate unencrypted subcarrier signals from analog FM broadcasts.

Given that there's such extremely limited bandwidth available in the HD Radio environment - about 140 kilohertz in the FM "extended hybrid" analog/digital configuration - it's difficult to see how stations would continue to multicast multiple free streams of program content while also offering up something for those willing to pay for it. Something will have to give; data compression solutions only go so far.

Of course, terrestrial radio needs to come up with program content that's worth paying for. But that's beside the point. Up until now, all AM and FM radio was free - you just paid for the cost of the receiver, though digital ones still cost in the three-figure range, and those currently being sold will not be compatible with NDS' "conditional access" technology.

Now, perhaps, we will witness the beginning of the fencing-off what used to be fully public spectrum, for purposes that only serve a public willing to pay. Terrestrial radio's never been set up like that. The same thing has already happened with DTV, though, so I guess its coming should be no real surprise.

Although the FCC has not formally ruled on exactly how digital broadcasters may split their spectrum up into free and pay-for-play services, this deal is obviously a move by iBiquity to implement the capability in order to set the ground work for official endorsement. After all, that is essentially how HD Radio itself was developed and deployed.

However, unlike DTV, the proprietary nature of the fundamental HD broadcast standard has knock-on effects with regard to the features the standard will allow. iBiquity is thus in a position to define the range of add-on features available in the digital environment, like "conditional access" services. In this case, if you want to offer subscription-only content on terrestrial radio, you'll have to go through RadioGuard - no alternate protocols allowed.

In this light, this latest development shouldn't be heralded as a great leap forward for digital broadcast technology, but as another step in the direction of conditioning the public to pay for a medium that has historically been free.

The Media Art Friesland Festival 2007 is the 11th edition of the festival. The festival is an international platform for audiovisual arts, as video, film, new media, sound, installations and Internet in the province of Friesland and Groningen. The main locations are Leeuwarden, Drachten, Beetsterzwaag and Groningen. We invite you to send your works in the areas of film, video, DVD, CD-ROM & Internet project, installation, performance and workshops. Sept. 20-30, 2007. Deadline: June 1, 2007.

free103point9 is pleased to announce our 2007 AIRtime residents.

31 Down (Benjamin Brown, Ryan Holsopple, Shannon Sindelar, Mirit Tal) (Brooklyn, New York)

"Dusk: The Sound of Bats," is a solar powered “bat detector.” The installation uses the high frequency radio transmissions of the bats living at Wave Farm as its subject matter. Bats emit sounds via echolocation, at typically two or three times higher pitch than that which the human ear can hear. Using an ultrasonic microphone paired with a customized scanning device, 31 Down will translate the bats' transmissions into audible frequencies.


Cross Current Resonance Transducer (LoVid: Tali Hinkis & Kyle Lapidus; Douglas Repetto) (New York, New York)

1) Data Collection Devices
An analysis of signals on the electromagnetic spectrum and telluric currents (signals in the earth) will inform CCRT's development of measurement device sculptures. These devices exist both as aesthetic objects and as functional monitoring mechanisms, which will enable data recordings used in future projects.
2) Bonding Energy
A web-based project commissioned by turbulence.org, "Bonding Energy" is a model system for distributed microenergy generation. The system suggests new ways of thinking about renewable resources and to address global warming and climate change.


Evidence (Stephan Moore, Scott Smallwood) (Troy, New York)

"Spheres of Influence (working title)" is a performance/installation of both live-performed and pre-recorded sounds being broadcast through a number of radio transmitters all tuned to identical (or nearly-identical) frequencies. The audience is equipped with radio receivers, and then encouraged to explore the points of “indecision” that exist between the various transmitters. In this way, each audience member participates in the composition/editing of the final piece by performing the interplay between our broadcasted material and the indeterminate artifacts of the transmission/reception process inherent in the installation.


Sarah Kanouse (Murphysboro, Illinois)

With “Driving East Through Indian Country” Kanouse addresses historical and contemporary mobility through the routes and histories of European settlement and Indian removal, the ways this early history of (re)settlement is commemorated via monuments and museums, and contemporary discourse on (im)migration. Her upstate iteration of the project will focus on the territory related to the Cherry Valley Massacre of 1778 and the retributive Sullivan Expedition of 1779. Among the project components is a public road trip including an FM broadcast of real-time, gps triggered audio content.


Raphael Lyon (Providence, Rhode Island)

Lyon's "Dark Cinema" project is a performance/lecture which argues that the narrative codes which achieve the immersive cinematic illusion of "being there" in a traditional narrative film were never fully developed for radio. Through the articulation of his "Dark Cinema" theory, and a "Dogma-95" styled call for "Dark Cinema" works, Lyon hopes to activate new projects considering the radio narrative in pioneering and effective ways.


Kenta Nagai (Brooklyn, New York)

"Me & Gretel" is an interactive media installation constructed with Lego block speaker enclosures, microphones, television monitors, and hidden surveillance cameras. Viewers' movements inside the installation are transmitted to the monitors and speakers. In "Me & Gretel" the viewer's presence becomes intertwined with elements from disassembled international folktales, myths, and oral histories collected and represented by Nagai to create new personal traditions.


neuroTransmitter (Angel Nevarez, Valerie Tevere) (Brooklyn, New York)

"The FM Ferry Experiment" is a weeklong mobile radio project to be held on the Staten Island Ferry during the Fall of 2007. In cooperation with the New York City Department of Transportation and the FM signal of WSIA-FM, this project will transform the ferry into a floating radio station, continually traveling between Lower Manhattan and Staten Island. nT will construct the modular components of "The FM Ferry Experiment" radio station during their AIRtime residency.


Marisa Olson (Brooklyn, New York)

Olson will conduct research using the Wave Farm Study Center collections on the history of the use of broadcast and recorded media in protest to inform her forthcoming projects including a multimedia monologue performance about pop music and political activism, called "Rappers Vs. Rockers," and a dramatization of “gonzo journalist” Hunter S. Thompson’s suicide note, which he entitled "Football Season Is Over."


Shawn Onsgard (Brooklyn, New York)

“Local Time” is a radio-percussion music event for large outdoor spaces. In this piece, performers position themselves dynamically in the geography to adjust and synchronize composed musical time structures across great distances with each other and with audible qualities implicit to the site such as echo, reverb
decay, or unintended environmental sounds. In addition to acoustic musical instruments such as claves, bull roars, hand drums, switches and other items that produce sounds capable of carrying long distances; each performer is also equipped with a wireless microphone transmitting their acoustic sounds to a radio receiver/audio amplifier located with the audience.


John Roach & James Rouvelle (Brooklyn, New York)

In "Trailhead" Roach and Rouvelle set out to map Wave Farm. Using separate trajectories and mapping strategies, the artists maintain communication during their explorations via transmitters. Ephemera gathered during their investigations and actions in the form of audio, gps, and drawings will construct an online map of the Wave Farm grounds. Collaborators will contribute additional mapping elements including spoken word, video, and photographs.

Christopher Stern on corporate "pirates" at Bloomberg.com:

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. became the nation's largest satellite broadcaster with a network of hundreds of antennas that were built and operated in violation of U.S. Federal Communications Commission rules.

At least a third of the 800 antennas that beam XM's radio channels to millions of customers were placed in unapproved locations or emitted signals that were too strong, according to a review of FCC filings. XM says some now comply with the rules, though it doesn't know how many.

The misplaced antennas may result in fines or a shutdown of part of the company's network. Lawmakers including U.S. Representative Edward Markey say regulators should take the violations into account when they consider XM's plan to combine with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.

``This series of apparent violations by XM does provide fuel to opponents of the merger and gives them reason to think they can get the deal rejected,'' said Paul Gallant, a Washington-based policy analyst with Stanford Washington Research.

Sirius and XM need approval from the FCC and Justice Department for their all-stock combination, worth $3.42 billion at today's closing prices.

The extent of the breach hasn't been widely disclosed by XM. The company told shareholders on Feb. 22 in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that ``certain'' antennas had unapproved locations or power without giving further details, and said that the FCC had begun an investigation.

XM Chief Executive Officer Hugh Panero told investors on a Feb. 26 conference call that while ``clearly there were mistakes or administrative problems,'' the FCC isn't likely to force the company to make changes that would affect customers. The company is ``just working with'' the FCC to find a solution, Panero said.

``XM voluntarily disclosed these variances to the FCC, took unilateral action to eliminate many of them, and continues to work directly with the FCC to address any concerns,'' XM spokesman Chance Patterson said. The differences between the approved and actual locations or signal strength are ``generally immaterial,'' he said.

XM depends more on its ground-based network than Sirius, whose satellites give better coverage. Sirius Chief Executive Officer Mel Karmazin told Congress last week that 11 of the company's 138 antennas violated rules and that he switched them off in October.

Lawmakers have no direct authority to block the merger, though they might influence the outcome by making their feelings known. Congress has held four hearings on the proposed combination at which legislators raised concerns over issues including XM's violation of FCC rules.

Shares of XM fell 20 cents to $10.93 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. They've dropped 22 percent since the purchase by Sirius was announced. Sirius shares were down 3 cents at $2.77 and are down 25 percent since the announcement.

The two companies ran afoul of the FCC last year, when the agency said they were selling radios with signals that were too strong. Sirius and XM pulled the radios off the market temporarily while they were fixed.

XM uses antennas, or repeaters, to boost signals where buildings or hills block reception from orbiting satellites. The unapproved repeaters are dotted throughout 59 markets including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, Washington-based XM said in an FCC filing in January.

In the filing, XM said the antennas in violation serve 42 percent of its network. In Los Angeles, 23 of XM's 39 antennas are in breach of the rules, the company said. In New York, 35 of 91 are.

XM said in December filings that turning off Los Angeles repeaters would have a ``drastic and adverse impact'' on reception and a New York shutdown ``would devastate'' service.

Some antennas were erected thousands of feet from their approved location, said XM, which has 7.5 million subscribers. In Chicago, an antenna was more than 11 miles from the authorized spot. In Austin, Texas, a repeater sanctioned for a height of 490 feet was 900 feet high.

Cornerhouse, Manchester's international centre for contemporary arts and film, announces an open call for audio, for Artradio, Cornerhouse’s temporary radio station, broadcasting in FM and online through late June to August of 2007. Deadline Friday 27 April 2007, 12 noon. Artradio is calling for open submissions of existing audio work of a diverse variety, for example; digital sound productions from the broad spectrum of experimental music and sound field recordings, found sound, sound performance and event archives, cultural interviews, radio plays and shows for breakfast. With a minimum duration of 10mins and a maximum of 1hour.

More about Artradio: Artradio will broadcast from Cornerhouse galleries, and will form the base for a dynamic array of live residency broadcasts, events, pre-recorded and archive programmes, as well as invited feeds, guest slots and submitted content. The public is invited to listen, observe and get involved. Resident artists will shape the core programming of the broadcast schedule. The artists are Diana McCarty & Pit Schultz, reboot.fm, (Berlin); Eileen Simpson & Ben White, Open Music Archive, (London), David Blandy (London). Artradio will broadcast daily from 8 a.m. – midnight (in FM for 26 days, and online for 8 weeks, pending Ofcom confirmation of FM frequency). Normal gallery hours apply. For the FM frequency, more information about the programme, to sign-up for updates, or to learn how to get involved please visit www.artradio.fm.

Vox Novus is inviting composers to submit works 60 seconds or less in length to included in its fifth annual 60x60 project. 60 compositions will be selected to be performed continuously in a one-hour concert, in conjunction with multimedia elements and an analog clock marking the passage of time. During the concert each of the 60 pieces selected will begin precisely at the beginning of the minute, this will mark the end of one piece and the beginning of another. There will be no pause between the pieces. Works may be less than 60 seconds in length, but may not exceed 60 seconds. Works selected that are less than 60 seconds long will be "padded" with silence either before, after, or surrounding the composition. Please note that the total duration of the work including silence may NOT exceed sixty seconds. The 60x60 project's definition of a record work is as follows: any work created as a musical composition which is captured on recorded media, which does not require live performers for its production in broadcast at concert halls, radio, multi-media, etc. Its creation can include but not limited to acoustic instruments, voice, environmental sources, and computer (Sampling, MIDI, C Sound, ProTools, etc.). Acoustic compositions should be submitted with the understanding that it is their recording that is of prime importance and is what will be used to determine its selection.

Scores of works are strongly discouraged and will not be used in the selection process. Excerpts of larger works are strongly discouraged. 60x60 is a project of "signature works" and short works created specifically for the 60x60 project. Works generated from procedures (i.e. mathematical matrices, organizational systems, or computer programs,) remixed works, or themes and motives recomposed from other of the composer's own work are acceptable. The call is open to composers of any nationality, age, or career stage. Works submitted must not have been previously performed or broadcasted. Compact Discs that include the audio submission must be labeled with the composer's name and the title of the work. The submission form must be sent at the same time with the submitted work. Submission form must contain the composer's name, address, email, phone number, composition title, composition length, and track position on the compact disc. Biographies and program notes may be included on a separate sheet, but must be typed and each may be no longer than 100 words in length.

Multiple works may be submitted. Each work must be noted on the submission form(s) and clearly indicated on the CD. Do Not send originals! No works will be returned, and may be performed in subsequent performances after the debut concert. All submissions must be postmarked by May 21, 2007. Selected works will be announced on September 17, 2007. Submission of the work(s) on compact disc must be accompanied by the submission form and sent to: 60x60 c/o Robert Voisey, Radio City Station, P.O. Box 1607, New York, NY 10101 USA.

Deadline: Submissions must be postmarked by May 21, 2007. Submissions must include: Submission Form (including bio and program notes) and a labeled CD containing the submission in audio format. Submission forms can be downloaded at http://www.VoxNovus.com/60x60/Call.htm.

Works selected for the 2007 60x60 project will be announced on September 17, 2007.

By Tom Roe

16 percent of Londoners say they listen to "pirate" radio stations, according to a new report from Ofcom, the Office of Communications in England, the UK's equivalent to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

"In 2006, we undertook 1,085 separate operations against illegal broadcasters, resulting in 63 convictions," Ofcom reports. They guess that the UK has 150 microcasters at any one time, and that listeners tune in for music they can't hear elsewhere.

The report also continues the false canard that pirate broadcasts magically make airplanes fall from the sky. Read the full report here.

From Rachelle Younglai in Reuters:

The Federal Communications Commission is not expected to take action over racist comments uttered by now-fired radio host Don Imus because of free-speech concerns, lawyers said on Thursday. The FCC is barred from trying to prevent the broadcast of any point of view. The Communications Act prohibits the agency from censoring broadcast material, in most cases, and from making any regulation that would interfere with freedom of speech. The agency received complaints after Imus referred to the Rutgers University women's college basketball team as "nappy-headed hos," on his morning radio program last week.

From David DeJean in Information Week:

The Copyright Royalty Board has quickly and completely affirmed its own decision on performance royalties, set in accordance with recording-industry wishes, that will be assessed against Internet music-streaming and radio-station sites. Because the rates, which were more than a year overdue, were much higher than the Internet radio industry expected, and retroactive for 2006, one possible result is that many small Internet radio operators will cease operations immediately and wait to see if Congress or the courts will provide relief.

The board in March adopted the recommendations of the recording industry, and the action created a storm of protest from broadcasters and the many small businesses that had been created to serve niche markets via the Web. The rate-setting decision more than doubled the rates for 2006, and mandates further major increases in 2007 and 2008. The board invited requests for a rehearing, and then speedily ignored them, deciding yesterday that it had been right all along.

Exactly why the recording industry wants to radically restrict Internet radio eludes me. I wrote just earlier this week, in a review of music-discovery Web sites, that these services are just beginning to offer the music industry a real alternative to the declining broadcast radio business in terms of exposing listeners to the record companies' products. It looks like the music industry remains unable to overcome its inability to understand and deal effectively with technology.

There was one area where the board agreed with the rehearing petitioners, according to David Oxenford, who writes for the Broadcast Law Blog: it issued clarification requested by SoundExchange (the company formed by the recording industry to collect the performance royalties) emphasizing that the performance royalties apply not just to PCs, but to streaming received over mobile phones, too. Otherwise, wrote Oxenford, "The board did not specifically address the requests for rehearing of the $500 per channel minimum fee that could be interpreted to require a minimum fee for each stream created by a service like Pandora, and would certainly require huge royalties by services like Live 365 -- regardless of how many people listen to the streams. It also did not even address the issue raised by the broadcasters, pointing to the fact that SoundExchange had offered an expert witness in the satellite radio proceeding who contradicted the expert witness offered by SoundExchange in this case -- the expert on whose testimony the Copyright Royalty Board's decision was based."

Internet broadcasters' hopes now rest on Congress and the courts. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House panel on telecommunications and the Internet, has strongly criticized the Copyright Royalty Board's ruling, for example. The satellite radio case that Oxenford referred to, the merger of XM and Sirius, is another matter before Markey's committee, and testimony in that case had claimed that the growth of Internet radio would counteract any anti-competitive effect of a merger -- a statement that now appears a lot less certain.

The next procedural step, according to Oxenford, will be the publication of the royalty decision in the Federal Register by the Library of Congress. After that, interested parties will have 30 days to file a notice of appeal of the decision with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

From Wired blog:

North Dakota has passed a law protecting its citizens from a danger that to date only seems to affect sci-fi protagonists and people who have been lax in taking their anti-psychotic medications.

Senate Bill 2415 decrees that "a person may not require that an individual have inserted into that individual's body a microchip containing a radio frequency identification device."

Wisconsin passed a similar ban last year. After living in Madison for several years, I predict this will mainly please the perennial City Council candidate whose platform consisted of getting assistance in stopping the radio signals that government entities were beaming into his head.