This bill was introduced on April 26, 2007 by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-IL) and has been cosponsored by over 100 members of the Congress.
The decision of the Copyright Royalty Board was made following the guidelines of a "willing buyer / willing seller" business model, and as the result of a two-year proceeding, with dozens of witnesses and hundreds of documents from over twenty different parties, including (but not limited to) large webcasters, small webcasters, NPR, college stations, and SoundExchange.
The CRB was privy to private financial records and business models of the webcasters, and after reviewing the evidence and testimony, issued their decision (currently under appeal) on May 1, 2007.
The Internet Radio Equality Act specifies that the provider may choose to pay royalties of: The following comparison is calculated based upon an imaginary Internet radio station that broadcasts, on average, fifteen songs to one hundred listeners each hour.
[8] These developments directly attend to some of the concerns prompting the creation of the proposed IREA, namely the "uncapped" $500 minimum fee, and the ability to assess liability at a rate other than the CRB determination.