Copyright Royalty Board announced Thursday that it will not increase the royalties paid by online music stores to members of the National Music Publisher's Association. The decision to keep the royalty rate at nine cents per song is the first ruling by the CRB on digital-music downloads.

The controversy caused considerable controversy online, particularly in the wake of comments by Apple representatives suggesting the company would no longer be able to profitably operate its popular iTunes Store.

The NMPA had asked the CRB to raise the royalty rate from nine to 15 cents, a 66 percent increase. Apple protested, arguing that due to massive infrastructure costs, the profit margins on each iTunes music sale are too slim to absorb the proposed increase.

In fact, Apple has repeatedly pushed to have the nine-cent royalty reduced, saying it is unnecessarily high.

The train driver blamed for the worst U.S. train crash in 15 years was sending and receiving text messages seconds before his crowded commuter train skipped a red light and collided head-on with a freight train, federal investigators said on Wednesday.

The Metrolink commuter train plowed into a Union Pacific freight locomotive on September 12 in Chatsworth, California, killing 25 people and injuring 135 in the worst train accident since 1993.

Cell phone records show Sanchez was sent a text message at 4:22:01 p.m., and received one at 4:21:03 p.m. The accident occurred at 4:22:23 p.m., according to Union Pacific train's onboard recorders.

He received seven and sent five text messages between 3:00 p.m. and the time of the accident.

Sanchez also received 21 text messages and sent 24 while he ran a train from 6:44 a.m. to 8:53 a.m.

said by Qoiz :

he is probably not a train operator anymore

said by EPS :

A train operator was texting while operating a train? Seriously? What next, airline pilots? How stupid are people going to get?

said by TK Junk Mail :

If you are riding in a car and the driver is texting, tell him/her to pull over, and then get out. That maniac is risking your life.

These are the details of the Nokia Comes With Music scheme – as they have been given to the MMF by Sony BMG: the handset will have a "wholesale" price of £50, of which £31 will be attributable to sound recordings (this does not include the songwriters' payments, which the MCPS-PRS is currently negotiating). Therefore, the consumer will not be able to download an unlimited number of free tracks as first touted, rather a maximum of 120 in a year. This is because the lowest price per download that the labels agreed on would be 25.8p. If the consumer wants more tracks they can buy them (the price of which is yet to be revealed).