We interrupt the developing screed on antitrust regulations and Whole Foods and such to bring you the following urgent announcement:

SAVE NET RADIO (.ORG)

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED: CALL YOUR SENATORS AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY TO ASK THEM TO CO-SPONSOR AND BRING TO THE FLOOR FOR AN IMMEDIATE VOTE THE INTERNET RADIO EQUALITY ACT, S. 1353 IN THE SENATE AND H.R. 2060 IN THE HOUSE!

…UNLESS CONGRESS ACTS BY JULY 15th, the new ruinous royalty rates will go into effect on Sunday, threatening the future of all Internet radio.

Actually, that’s me being a little late. Which is really, really stupid, because I’m a rabid listener of FlashbackRadio.com (Platinum Member and everything; if you go to the Stats page and see a request from user “VORTEXAE”, that’s me) and they’ve been airing the “call your senators” public service announcement for months. And I’ve done nothing. Shame, shame on me.

The good news: Us apathetic, lazy-good-fer-nothin’ slackers who haven’t done our bit yet haven’t, in fact, doomed the cause of reasonable Internet radio policies. Here’s the latest update from SaveNetRadio.org’s front page:

Congress and SoundExchange have heard loud and clear the amazing outpouring of support for Internet radio from webcasters, listeners and the thousands of artists they support. A commitment has been made to negotiate reasonable royalties, recognizing the industry’s long-term value and its still-developing revenue potential.

During negotiations SoundExchange committed temporarily not to enforce the new royalty rates so webcasters can stay online as new rates are agreed upon.

You can read all about the temporary stay of execution at Wired. You can keep up with new developments as Wired News posts them to the Listening Post blog.

But we aren’t off the hook yet, fellow slackers. The Internet Radio Equality Act has not been passed, for all that 125 representatives have cosponsored it. SaveNetRadio.org urges us to “keep the volume up” and keep calling our senators and representatives (and our local reporters!) until the bill is passed and negotiations have resulted in a situation fair to listeners, radio stations, and copyright holders (which sometimes, but does not always, turn out to be the artists whose music we love) alike.

You can use this page to find out who your elected officials are and how to contact them. You can also donate money to support the SaveNetRadio campaign. At the very least, educate yourself about the issue. An informed voice is a more effective voice. And don’t try to tell yourself that voices can’t be effective. Quoting the Wired article:

Thursday’s deal marks a sharp turnaround for SoundExchange, which told Wired News just hours before that the new online radio royalty rates are “etched in stone.”

Observers credited lobbying by net radio listeners with helping bring pressure on SoundExchange. “This is a direct result of lobbying pressure, so if anyone thinks their call didn’t matter, it did,” said Westergren. “That’s why this is happening.”