"I want to retire. I'm legally blind and I had a cple strokes four years ago. My vision is really getting to be a problem. And the record industry....

North Hills treasure trove of music goes up for sale on eBay

It started with a 1951 Frankie Laine single called "Jezebel." From there, Paul Mawhinney's obsession grew into the 3 million records that now fill the Record Rama archives.

When the clock strikes 6 p.m. tomorrow, it may be out of his hands and on the way out of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Mawhinney has put what he calls "The World's Greatest Music Collection" -- bigger than the one at the Library of Congress -- up for auction on eBay. He is selling the collection, housed in his store below a strip mall in Ross, as one unit with a starting bid of $3 million.

Mr. Mawhinney estimates the value at $50 million and said that CD Now nearly bought it for $28.5 million earlier in the decade, just before stock in the online Web site plummeted. He added that over the years, the Library of Congress and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum have both expressed interest in the collection.

But, between the digital revolution and the shrinking population of oldies collectors, the retail record industry is dying fast and a lot of the old-timers just want out.

Mr. Mawhinney, 68, said he's more determined than ever now to sell....

Music piracy crackdown nets college kids

At first, Sarah Barg thought the e-mail was a scam. Some group called theRecording Industry Association of America was accusing the University of Nebraska-Lincoln sophomore of illegally downloading 381 songs using the school's computer network and a program called Ares.

The letter said she might be sued but offered her the chance to settle out of court.

Barg couldn't imagine anyone expected her to pay $3,000 — $7.87 per song — for some 1980s ballads and Spice Girls tunes she downloaded for laughs in her dorm room. Besides, the 20-year-old had friends who had downloaded thousands of songs without repercussion.

"Obviously I knew it was illegal, but no one got in trouble for it," Barg said.

But Barg's perspective changed quickly that Thursday in March, when she called student legal services and found out the e-mail was no joke and that she had a pricey decision to make.

Barg is one of 61 students at UNL and hundreds at more than 60 college campuses across the country who have received letters from the recording industry group, threatening a lawsuit if they don't settle out of court.

"Any student on any campus in the country who is illegally downloading music may receive one of these letters in the coming months," said Jenni Engebretsen, an RIAA spokeswoman.

Barg's parents paid the $3,000 settlement. Without their help, "I don't know what I would have done. I'm only 20 years old," she said.

At least 500 university students nationwide have paid settlements to avoid being sued, Engebretsen said. Students who don't take the offer face lawsuits — and minimum damages of $750 for each copyrighted recording shared if they lose.

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Internet radio dealt severe blow as Copyright Board rejects appeal

A panel of judges at the Copyright Royalty Board has denied a request from the NPR and a number of other webcasters to reconsider a March ruling that would force Internet radio services to pay crippling royalties. The panel's ruling reaffirmed the original CRB decision in every respect, with the exception of how the royalties will be calculated. Instead of charging a royalty for each time a song is heard by a listener online, Internet broadcasters will be able pay royalties based on average listening hours through the end of 2008.

The ruling is a huge blow to online broadcasters, and the new royalty structure could knock a large number of them off the 'Net entirely. Under the previous setup, radio stations would have to pay an annual fee plus 12 percent of their profits to the music industry's royalty collection organization, SoundExchange. It was a good setup for the webcasters, most of whom are either nonprofits or very small organizations.

National Public Radio spearheaded the appeal, arguing that the CRB's decision was an "abuse of discretion" and saying that the judges did not consider the ramifications of a new royalty structure. Under the new royalty schedule, NPR will see its costs skyrocket.

The judges were unmoved by the webcasters' arguments. "None of the moving parties have made a sufficient showing of new evidence or clear error or manifest injustice that would warrant rehearing," wrote the CRB in its decision. "To the contrary... most of the parties' arguments in support of a rehearing or reconsideration merely restate arguments that were made or evidence that was presented during the proceeding."

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