Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Internet radio Pandora to end broadcast to United Kingdom

Internet radio station Pandora will stop broadcasting to the UK next week after failing to reach a deal with music rights holders. The UK was the only territory outside of the US to which Pandora still broadcast, but that will stop on 15th January.
Pandora founder Tim Westergren has written to all users with UK IP addresses to inform them of the move, saying it was an email he "hoped [he] would never have to send". He said he may call on users to engage in political lobbying on the issue.
"In July of 2007 we had to block usage of Pandora outside the US because of the lack of a viable license structure for internet radio streaming in other countries," he said. "We did however hold out some hope that a solution might exist for the UK, so we left it unblocked as we worked diligently with the rights organizations to negotiate an economically workable license fee."
For more information consult Out-Law.com:
http://www.out-law.com/page-8781