The Copyright Royalty Board is expected to set new compensation rates today for CDs and digital downloads - resulting in news that is a bit hard to take seriously. Various news outlets are reporting that Apple is threatening to shut down its iTunes store if faced with a royalty hike. Apparently, this is taken from testimony submitted to the Board last year:

"If the [iTunes music store] was forced to absorb any increase in the ... royalty rate, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss -which is no alternative at all," Cue wrote. "Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably."

Kevin Allison over at the Financial Times' tech blog and Mike Masnick over at Techdirt identify compelling reasons why you shouldn't chuck your ipod just yet.

posted by Amy Smorodin @ 12:55 PM | Media: Video, Music..., Prices, Terms, and Licensing

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