Web Broadcasters Postpone Plans for 'Millennium of Silence'

Looks like the Day of Silence protest staged by Web radio outlets on June 26 isn’t going to become the daily event many had feared.

At least not yet. Internet broadcasters will not have to start paying sharply higher royalties next week, though the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., yesterday refused to halt the royalty increase. SoundExchange, the organization that collects and distributes Internet music royalties, said late yesterday that online radio outlets can continue to operate under their old licenses next week without fear of legal action. “For the people who want to comply with the law and are in bona fide negotiations with us, we don’t want those people to be intimidated,” SoundExchange Executive Director John Simson told Radio and Internet Newsletter. “And we don’t want them to stop streaming. That’s just so long as they’re continuing to pay under the license they had. … Look, Monday’s not that magical a day. It’s going to be business as usual at SoundExchange–trying to process data, trying to get deals done. We’re not gonna be filing lawsuits.”

Thoughtful, yeah? But don’t mistake Simson’s remarks for benevolence. Because this isn’t a reprieve, it’s simply a stay of execution.