Court denies Webcasters' stay petition

COURT DENIES WEBCASTERS' STAY PETITION
[SOURCE: Reuters]
The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has denied a petition by U.S. Internet radio stations seeking to delay a royalty rate hike due July 15 they say could kill the fledgling industry. The SaveNetRadio coalition of Webcasters vowed it would continue fighting the hikes in Congress.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1234036620070712

* Judges clear way for higher Internet radio royalties
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-radio13jul13,1,1780162.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business
* Shaken Internet Radio Stations Face Specter of New Fees Sunday
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071202169.html

* Congress Tries To Broker Last-Minute Deal between Webcasters and Labels
[Commentary] Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) called parties representing record labels and webcasters before the House Commerce Committee on Energy and Commerce to try to broker a deal that would allow online radio stations to survive in something similar to their current form, while still paying labels and artists their due. The as-yet-unpassed Internet Radio Equality Act proposes that webcasters switch to a percentage royalty system similar to the 7.5-percent-of-revenue fee structure enjoyed by satellite and cable radio broadcasters. The record labels' problem with that is, I suspect, that webcasting is cheap enough that operators' total revenue can be low -- or even non-existent, in which case the labels and artists would get nothing from the streaming of their music.
http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/07/webcasters-only.html