"Webcasters worried that Internet radio would be wiped out by outrageously high royalty rates found little solace on Thursday despite a ruling that slashed a controversial licensing fee in half."

What they did is say that webcasters shouldn't pay more then AM/FM broadcasters when they webcast. I honestly don't know why they were to begin with. However, Soma FM claims this will cost them $500 a day. Many online webcasters claim they can't cover it.

Honestly, they could get everybody to shut up if they made the fees a function of REVENUE rather then LISTENERS, like the BMI/ASCAP fees (which no one complains about). This allows you to build your business without paying out like a big boy when you are still small change. But that would be just too damn easy, now wouldn't it... One wonders if the RIAA doesn't benefit financially from an environment where there are a smaller number of popular artists and wants to tune things that way.