Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Setting up an epic lawyer-fest for the ages?

From slashdot today:

"First it was Napster; then it was Internet radio; then it was little girls, grandmothers, and dead people. But now our friends at the RIAA are going decidedly low-tech. The LA Times reports that the RIAA wants royalties from radio stations. 70 years ago Congress exempted radio stations from paying royalties to performers and labels because radio helps sell music. But since the labels that make up the RIAA are not getting the cash they desire through sales of CDs, and since Internet and satellite broadcasters are forced to cough up cash to their racket, now the RIAA wants terrestrial radio to pay up as well."

Finally, the RIAA is duking it out with another entity that can afford to pay lawyers: ClearChannel. No one is quite sure how this battle will turn out, but hopefully it will erode both entitys' power and credibility (after all, ClearChannel sucks, too). An odd coincidence is this onion article, just put out today.

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