Internet Radio coming back into vogue?

First it was hot, then it was not. Internet radio seemed to vanish almost as quickly as it appeared. Talent contracts were able to extract onerous fees for Internet exposure and suddenly, those same spots you heard on the air became more costly to run on the web. And then there were those pesky copyright and mechanical fees. The old compulsory License doctrine didn't cover Internet broadcasts and everybody from composers to performers smelled the blood in the water. Mark Cuban fortuitously sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo at just the right moment, and by the time the web radio house of cards began to tumble, he was on to HDTV and the NBA. Some Internet broadcasters hung in, but most, including the big boys, decided that the idea wasn't ready for prime time. Well time, as they say, heals most wounds and with the RIAA negotiating podcast license rates with Coverville and the ASCAP/BMI folks leading the way with less restrictive copyright fees for webcasters, Internet broadcasters are again dipping their toes in the water as this LA Times story reports.