twitter's Journal: Court declines to postpone Internet radio royalty hike

Ars technica carries the bad news handed out by US Court of Apppeals for the DC Circuit:

[the court] denied a motion to postpone the onset of the new royalty regime. In a brief order, the court said that the issues raised by the webcasters did not satisfy its "stringent standards."

Under the new scheme, webcasters will have to pay a flat fee per song streamed on a per-user basis, along with a $500-per-channel annual administrative fee. In addition, the royalties are retroactive to January 2006 and are scheduled to double by 2011.

Some say webcasters and artists will have to pay fees regardless of their intent.

further discussion.