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"SoundExchange, the nonprofit group that collects fees on behalf of major and indie record companies, has extended the olive branch to small webcasters in an attempt to reach a middle ground in what has become an ongoing battle regarding royalties paid for Internet radio.  This peace offering came at the urging of Reps. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Howard Coble (R-N.C.), the leaders of a key House panel that deals with intellectual-property issues.\nSoundExchange has said it would offer small webcasters the option of paying below-market royalty rates for songs played, essentially maintaining the rates that have been in effect since 2002 under the Small Webcaster Settlement Act.  This particular agreement would result in a guaranteed locked rate for 13 years, which spans from 1998 to 2010.  \nWebcasters that would be considered small would be required to pay 10% of all gross revenue up to $250,000, whereas those above this amount would be required to pay 12 percent.  No word yet on how \"small\" webcasters will be determined; by number of songs streamed or how large the actual company is are some ideas for how these delineations could be determined. \nSo what's the problem?  SaveNetRadio is stating that keeping rates at their current prices would actually stunt the growth of smaller firms, and ruin Internet radio as an industry, noting that even Yahoo and AOL radio divisions would be considered small compared to broadcast radio standards, making true competition with existing media companies impossible.  Which raises the question; who's interests are actually being protected?  \nWebcasters have also made friends with some important figures in D.C., as nearly identical bills were submitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives, which, if passed, would align the rates of Internet radio with those for satellite, cable, jukebox and other digital-radio services.\n[via]"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2007/05/22/soundexchange/>