Apathy killed the webcast star

A Congressional committee has signalled it will not be involving itself in the dispute between the music industry and small webcasters, reports BusinessWeek.

The move comes as webcasters sought Congressional aid for salvation from what they feel are oppressive new royalty rates imposed by a music industry trade group. Instead, House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez says she would prefer the parties work the issue out for themselves.

The issue revolves around a ruling from SoundExchange, the body that sets royalty rates, that would increase payments by small online broadcasters by three times or more. It would apply rates to those webcasters that aren't applicable to broadcast radio stations.

Those webcasters are already suing over the increased royalty payments, saying they would be so high that many, if not most, of the online stations would not be able to afford them and push them out of business.