Washington - Organizers of yesterday's national Web radio Day of Silence -- observed by more than 14,000 webcasters to protest higher royalty rates -- said on Thursday that nearly 400,000 phone calls were placed to members of Congress on Wednesday, calling on them to support legislation that would vacate the new royalty rates.

Washington - Thousands of U.S. webcasters on Tuesday went silent, staging a day-long blackout in protest of sharply higher music royalty rates set to take affect on July 15.

Washington - SaveNetRadio, a coalition with ties to the Digital Media Association, a trade group of large webcasters, said that 31 artists traveled to Washington today to meet with more than 50 lawmakers to discuss the effect new royalty rates will have on Internet radio services. The visit to Capitol Hill followed an open-air concert on the lawn of the U.S. Senate last night. SaveNetRadio is seeking support for the bipartisan Internet Radio Equality Act, which would vacate the Copyright Royalty Board's recent decision to hike the rates webcasters must pay to stream music online.

Washington - SaveNetRadio, a group backed by large webcasters such as AOL, Yahoo and Live365 who are represented by the Digital Media Association, said an offer put forth yesterday by SoundExchange that would provide below-market royalty rates for small webcasters would "decimate" the Internet radio industry.

Washington - A group of more than 70 webcasters, artists and labels met with nearly 100 members of Congress yesterday to seek support for the Internet Radio Equality Act, a recently introduced bill that would largely unburden webcasters from new royalty rates that many say will drive them out of business.

Washington - The SaveNetRadio coalition said on Thursday that in the three days since launching its online campaign this week, individuals have sent nearly 280,000 messages to Congress opposing the music webcasting royalty increase imposed by the Copyright Royalty Board. The group added that 3,500 artists have also called on their representatives to take action. "The reality is that there are only 27 days until the retroactive increased royalty payment comes due and thousands of webcasters go silent," said SaveNetRadio spokesman Jake Ward. "278,000 messages is a tremendous start, but we must continue to send the message to Congress to ensure they hear our message loud and clear."