Web Broadcasters: The Wild West Just Got a Lot Less Wild

How in hell can you charge a retroactive fee? That goes on my list of top ten scariest concepts ever. Can you imagine a tax being passed where everyone has to dig up their old forms from 2005 and pay a new fee based on what happened back then?

I admit I do not have a complete grasp of the details here, but I feel a huge chill come over the Internet this morning, and it's only beginning. I am already nostalgic for the way things used to be. This web broadcaster ruling will change things going forward, and by making the royalties retroactive for 2006, it has changed things in the past as well. It's almost as if the government has determined that the Internet has been a beacon of freedom for too long and that must cease. Here's one paragraph from the article:

AccuRadio.com said that in 2005 they paid 5% of their revenues to songwriters and the 12% required by SoundExchange. "On $400,000 in revenues, we paid Sound Exchange about $48,000," wrote Mr Hanson. "Under the judges' decision, we owe $600,000 for 2006 - which is about 150% of our total revenues. That would absolutely bankrupt us and will force us to shut down." He said the wider implications of the decision were "possibly fatal for internet radio".BBC NEWS | Technology | 'Fatal' blow to web broadcasters