Foggy Streams

Ah, the internets. They is so darn confusing. Just ask Ted, he knows.

Curtis Media, part-owners of High Country Radio, admit as much:

A few CMG stations are now streaming (WPTF, Y102.9, and WSJS). However, internet streaming is still a rather new technology and a great number of legal issues have yet to be resolved in regards to copyright, ownership, and compensation for artists and actors. In some cases, we are prohibited from re-broadcasting a syndicated program from our website. We hope that a resolution will be forthcoming to clear up these foggy issues. Until such a time, CMG stations will not stream audio. In some cases, the rights holders are streaming from their own websites. Please contact the webmaster for details.

High Country Radio dropped their internet stream a while back. Can't even get the local news anymore.

So, why are Curtis and High Country Radio so stumped? Have any other radio stations figured out how to use the tubes? Oh, maybe a few...college towns, even! Just like Boone!

Thankfully there is help on the way, from the Federal Trade Commission:

The Federal Trade Commission today announced it will hold a series of workshops titled “Can News Media Survive the Internet Age? Competition, Consumer Protection, and First Amendment Perspectives.” The first workshop will be held on September 15, 2009.

“Many industries have experienced transitions to new business models in response to new forms of competition on the Internet, and consumers generally have benefitted in the process,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz explained. “But the news business may be different because of the First Amendment values at stake. Whether we get our news from ink on paper, TV, radio, laptops, or mobile devices, we need a strong news industry for our democracy to thrive. Bringing together competition, consumer protection, and First Amendment perspectives can help all of us understand how best to serve Americans’ interests given the new realities affecting news organizations.”
...
Witnesses will include journalists and other representatives of news organizations, privacy experts, direct marketers, online advertisers, academics, new media representatives (such as bloggers and local news Web sites), and consumer advocates.

We expect a steady stream of high ranking executives from Curtis, Foothills, and High Country Radio to be in attendance. Maybe they'll stream it live?