Stay tuned to RAIN for more updates on various parties' performance royalty rate proposals for 2005-2010, as well as more analysis on the news as it breaks.

From the Wall Street Journal: "As marketers shift dollars from TV and print media to the Internet, more Web sites are hanging 'sold out' signs on their most coveted pages and dramatically raising ad rates.

"The front pages of Yahoo Inc., Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN are sold out on big display ads for months in advance, ad buyers say. Web sites offering car-buying tips are booked so far in advance — up to 18 months in some cases — that they are selling ads for next year in a process similar to the way network TV spots are sold...

"Yahoo said last month that prices increased by 'double digits' in the third quarter from a year earlier, while AOL says prices for some ad units have increased as much as 20% since January. MSN says it currently charges between several hundred thousand dollars and $1 million for a prime, 24-hour ad spot on its home page. That's up from about $25,000 to $50,000 four years ago...

"By contrast, the average price of a 30-second TV ad for last February's Super Bowl was $2.4 million, while a full-page color ad in People magazine costs $228,275...

"(A)dvertising executives and Web publishers say that has been changing as the number of Americans using the Internet continues to grow and technologies such as broadband Internet access allow snazzier ads...

"PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that Internet ad spending for 2005 will total as much as $12 billion. That compares with $9.6 billion in 2004 and $6 billion in 2002...

"Despite the Internet's vast size, the biggest 50 Web companies are attracting 96% of the ad spending, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Most goes to the top four portals — Yahoo, Google, AOL and MSN... Still, the rising tide of ad dollars is lifting some smaller boats. The shortage of premium spots is driving advertisers toward smaller targeted Web sites that capture niche audiences and even into what is known as 'remnant inventory,' or otherwise unwanted spots across a wide array of Web sites."

Read this full story online at the Wall Street Journal.

From AdAge.com: "House Democrats today proposed an 'innovation agenda' that includes as one of its platforms affordable broadband access in every home within five years.

"House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi today said the agenda is needed to keep the country the 'most competitive and innovative nation in the world.'

"'Universal broadband will propel advanced Internet applications, such as distance learning, health IT, video-on-demand and voice over IP,' the California Democrat said in a speech today at the National Press Club.

"It 'will put all Americans, no matter where they live, no more than a keystroke or a mouse click away from the jobs and opportunity broadband both creates and supports,' Ms. Pelosi said.

"The party's plan calls for creating a national broadband policy, promoting broadband to rural and underserved communities, and encouraging additional ways to access broadband through wireless and power line connections."

Read this story online at AdAge.com.

From mobZilla Press Release: "mobZilla, LLC, a leading wireless media company, today welcomed Ron Nenni as senior vice president of business development and global licensing. Nenni... will be responsible for driving content and partnership strategies in the music, traditional broadcasting and syndicated network programming industries.

"Nenni most recently served as executive director of the AOL Radio Network where he and his team developed and executed the programming strategy of the AOL Radio Network of more than 200 stations...

"Prior to joining AOL, Nenni was the vice president of programming at the XACT Radio Network.... He also spent 16 years as program director and operations manager with Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting in the San Francisco Bay Area."