WASHINGTON (AP) - The Digital Media Association spent almost $1.1 million in
2007 lobbying on royalties paid by Internet radio stations, according to a
disclosure form.
The trade group lobbied Congress in favor of legislation that would have
nullified a decision by a three-judge copyright panel requiring Internet radio
stations to pay a royalty rate that the industry argues is excessive, according
to the form, posted online Feb. 13 by the Senate's public records office.
Small Web casters have said the higher rates would put many of them out of
business, while larger companies, such as Yahoo Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL,
said their revenues would be significantly lowered. Yahoo and AOL are members of
the Digital Media Association, as are Amazon.com, Apple Inc., RealNetworks Inc.
and Microsoft Corp.
The trade group spent almost $700,000 lobbying on the same issue in the
second half of last year.
Lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members
of the executive and legislative branches, under a federal law enacted in 1995.
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