Why isn’t the large quote credited? Who said that?
I bet this number “85%” is the difference between the desired rate that they attempted to negotiate and the current one, or perhaps the difference between the negotiated one and what ASCAP actually wanted. So Pandora is suing ASCAP now, as they shook hands, man. This quote ends with saying that “Any characterization of Pandora as being out to cut publishing rates flies in the face of the facts.” Of course it doesn’t really, they certainly weren’t trying to negotiate a higher rate!
Doctorow’s intro is pretty misleading as well, webcasting rates do compare unfavorably to satellite radio. Again, the comparisons between multicast and singlecast radio are apples and oranges. Each needs a sustainable rate, neither has one.
