The U.S. Copyright office has made a decision on the future of U.S. based Internet Radio services. The Copyright Office decided Thursday to charge webcasters 70 cents per song heard by 1,000 listeners. This is half of what a government panel had proposed in February, but still a significant financial burden for independent operators not backed by a large corporation. While John Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association, said the rate was still too high, the recording industry had sought even higher royalties. What's worse is the fees will be retroactive to 1998, with full payment of royalties from past years due in October. John Jeffrey, vice president of the net's largest radio network, Live365, said his company will be charged approximately $100,000 a month, commenting "This is a rate that still means the majority of independent webcasters will cease to operate." Source: CNN