Tuesday Evening Links

The future of Internet radio appears more secure after a handful of online stations reached an agreement Tuesday to head off a potentially crippling increase in copyright royalty rates.

Under the agreement, large commercial webcasters will pay copyright owners up to 25 percent of their revenue or a "per-performance" rate that is below the rates set by the Copyright Royalty Board. Smaller webcasters will pay either a percent of revenue or a percent of expenses.

Lawmakers also praised the agreement. Congress has already passed legislation making any deal reached between webcasters and SoundExchange legally binding. Because Internet radio companies operate under a government license, these deals need congressional authorization.

Already this year, SoundExchange struck new online royalty agreements with the National Association of Broadcasters and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Traditional AM and FM broadcasters are exempt from copyright royalty rates for over-the-air radio play, because that airplay is thought to provide free promotion for artists and labels. But the broadcasters are subject to the new rates for any songs streamed over radio station Web sites.

The Palm Pre smartphone is poised to take its inaugural bows in Europe before this year's holiday shopping season. Under Palm's new agreement with mobile network giant Telefónica Europe, the Palm Pre will become available initially on the O2 network in Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom and on the Moviestar network in Spain.

"I can't imagine Palm waiting until November," Reith said, "and I wouldn't be surprised to see something out toward the end of August. That is what I would be aiming for."

"They are launching with one of the biggest operators in Europe and in three of the biggest markets -- U.K., Germany and Spain," Jeronimo said. O2, the biggest mobile operator in the U.K., "needs to present alternatives to the Android devices launched by Vodafone and T-Mobile, which are expected to present good results this year."