Internet Radio Goes Silent Today

Hundreds of large and small internet broadcasters organized by SaveNetRadio.org will not broadcast today as a "Day Of Silence" to protest a scheduled major increase in royalty rates that they say will put most stations out of business. KCRW, Pandora, Live365, Yahoo, Real, MTV, SomaFM, Radio Paradise, AcuRadio are all among those streams silent today.

But CBS owned Last.fm, AOL Radio and Clear Channel online are still on the air.

On their blog (via Hypebot reader Nick) Last.FM said it was staying on the air because it "did not want to punish listeners for our problems." It;s a surprising move that could see backlash from the service's tech savvy early users. In fact, here's a general Last.fm email address if you want to let them know what you think. Or leave your comments below.

More importantly, today is a great day to call your Congressman and let him know what your think. You can find instructions and more details on the issue and today's protest here.