SoundExchange Offers Temporary Reprieve on Royalty Hike

[DudeAsInCool]

Thank God!

Ars Technica reports"

"In the wake of an appeals court's decision not to delay the imposition of a new, expensive royalty scheme, Internet radio broadcasters got an unexpected bit of good news from an unlikely source. During a Congressional roundtable initiated by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), SoundExchange executive director Jon Simson said that the licensing group will not enforce the new royalty scheme. Instead, the rate hikes will be postponed indefinitely while SoundExchange and the webcasters attempt to hammer out a more equitable rate schedule."

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Photo Source: Wired

[DudeAsInCool]

Ars Technica follows up on the reprieve:

...That catastrophe has been averted, and SoundExchange looks ready to deal. Yet it appears that the CRB-backed royalty increase and the increased per-station fees may be leveraged to accomplish something else the music industry would really like to see: Internet radio locked down in DRM.

After news of the temporary compromise broke, SoundExchange eventually distributed a press release (PDF) that characterized its compromise offer. It speaks for itself (emphasis added):

"SoundExchange has offered to cap the $500 per channel minimum fee at $50,000 per year for webcasters who agree to provide more detailed reporting of the music that they play and work to stop users from engaging in 'streamripping'—turning Internet radio performances into a digital music library," reads the statement.

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