Net Radio: Death or Dishonour?

Well, look at this. After all the high drama about the imminent death of Net radio because of the exorbitant licensing rates being demanded, we have an interesting twist:

SoundExchange announced yesterday new terms of a proposal to address the concerns regarding the minimum fees for webcasting set by the Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJs).

Under the new proposal, to be implemented by remand to the CRJs, SoundExchange has offered to cap the $500 per channel minimum fee at $50,000 per year for webcasters who agree to provide more detailed reporting of the music that they play and work to stop users from engaging in “streamripping” – turning Internet radio performances into a digital music library.

In other words, we won't kill you provided you enslave yourself and your listeners through DRM'd music. (Via Ars Technica.)