Internet radio — remember that? It's still around, and after years of being an also-ran in the digital-media arena, it's recently started to offer some services worth listening to and could, God willing, completely reinvigorate the music industry. That is, unless the music industry has its way. Not content to just kill Internet radio, it's also committing professional suicide. Internet radio is poised to pump new blood into the music biz, but instead that biz decided to slice open its own jugular. Nice move.

Pandora, one of the current crop of Internet radio providers, might be the first casualty. SoundExchange, a division of the RIAA, has set up a royalty-fee system so outrageous that it's threatening to shut down Pandora. In fact, the founder of Pandora, Tim Westergren, says he might pull the plug. Keep reading to see what all the bloodshed is about.