DIGITAL MUSIC GOES TO D.C.—AGAIN
And so, at 10 a.m. next Tuesday (4/3), the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold its second hearing on digital music. If you watch CSPAN, perhaps you've heard of the Senate. The hearing, "Online Entertainment and Copyright Law: Coming Soon to a Digital Device Near You," will be as sexy as it sounds. Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who is also as sexy as he sounds, has been vocal in his support of Napster. Of course, he's also just introduced a Flag Protection Amendment, so who knows what he's up to.
Napster is returning the favor by throwing a soiree at the 9:30 Club in D.C. with jam band favorite Dispatch headlining. Oooh, Dispatch? Dude, they rock. Me and my roomate Seth followed them around the Northeast last fall.
Anyway, heavyweights scheduled to appear at the hearing include AOLTW COO Richard Parsons, Liquid Audio CEO Gerry Kearby, Napster CEO Hank Barry, MP3.com CEO Michael Robertson, EMusic Chairman Bob Kohn and Don Henley. And there will be handwringing and grandstanding. Nugent will say something not politically correct.
On the other side of the Capitol building, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) said today that he doesn't think that Congress should intervene in the Napster case, at least until after the Supreme Court rules. (See, there are two bodies of lawmakers in Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Didn't you watch Schoolhouse Rock?) Three weeks ago, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA)—whose website is in Cajun French!—stated, in English, that the industry and Napster should settle. Of course there are 435 members of the House and 100 in the Senate, but who has time to ask all of them what they think? I'm gonna go listen to some Dispatch and maybe play some hacky-sack.
