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"  Just last week, limited download sites like Rhapsody came to an agreement with the Recording Industry Association of America. But Internet radio\u2014sites like Pandora and similar Web sites where users can listen to streaming music but don&amp;#039;t get to choose the individual songs\u2014weren&amp;#039;t covered by the deal. Those sites were still burdened by high royalty rates set by the Library of Congress&amp;#039;s Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), rates so high that they would force most Internet radio stations out of business, according to station owners such as Pandora&amp;#039;s Tim Westergren.  But now Congress has stepped in to keep Internet radio going, at least for a while longer. The Webcaster Settlement Act passed the House on Saturday and the Senate yesterday and now awaits President Bush&amp;#039;s approval. If the president signs the bill into law, something that&amp;#039;s a formality at this point, according to Westergren, then CRB&amp;#039;s expensive royalty rates wouldn&amp;#039;t take effect until February 15, giving Internet radio stations and the music industry until then to work out a deal. Westergren said the bill also allows SoundExchange, which charges the royalties to radio stations, to make an agreement that covers all artists and would be binding without further Congressional approval. Such an agreement would take further decisions out of the hands of the CRB.  Rep. Jay Inslee from Washington sponsored the bill, but Westergren credited a groundswell of Internet radio supporters calling legislators as one of the main reasons the bill passed. &amp;quot;We had to muster a tremendous grass-roots effort,&amp;quot; he told PM today. That was especially helpful when the bill came under fire. The National Association of Broadcasters, which represents many broadcast radio stations, began lobbying against the legislation late Thursday, Westergren said, which came as a surprise. The Webcaster Settlement Act doesn&amp;#039;t directly affect broadcasters, he said, but perhaps they see Internet radio as a challenge. &amp;quot;A healthy webcasting industry is competition for them,&amp;quot; he said.  Nothing is official yet, but Westergren said, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m relieved and really happy about this.&amp;quot; Internet radio stations have been in negotiations with music industry groups for a long time, and he said only a few key details need to be worked out. Those details have been sticking points for a log time, he said, but he&amp;#039;s cautiously optimistic that the conditions of this new legislation will allow the two sides to make a deal at long last. But Feb. 15 is only four and a half months away, so Westergren said the negotiations will begin again posthaste. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a3692/4285474/>