Two weeks ago we discussed a proffer from music ring veteran Jim Griffin to contraption a monthly fee from ISPs in commerce for the legal distribution of copyrighted music. Now, quinthar brings news that Warner Music Group has hired Griffin with the intention to make that proposal a reality. Warner wants Griffin to establish a collective licensing deal with ISPs that would let the ISPs stop worrying about their legal responsibilities for file-sharing while contributing to a pool of money (potentially up to $20 billion per year) that would be distributed amongst the music industry. "Griffin says that in just the few weeks since Warner began working on this plan, the company has been approached by infobahn service providers 'who want to discharge their risk.' Eventually, pitch could subsidize the entire system, so that users who don't want to receive ads could pay the fee, and those who don't mind puff* wouldn't pay a dime. 'I.S.P.'s want to distinguish themselves with marketing," Griffin says. "You can only imagine that an I.S.P. that marketed a 'fair trade' network connection would see a industry advantage.'"

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