I ran a ringtone startup back in 2000 - 2004. ASCAP threatened us more than once. They claimed that someone who purchased a ringtone from us would then go ahead and make a public performance every time their phone rang, and thus, we were obliged to pay up performance licensing fees. I can remember looking the 'payment schedules' over in my freshman dorm room shaking my head in disbelief (We were already paying other rights agencies at the time [edit - including ASCAP]). The whole thing was absurd. Good to see a court has finally slapped some sense into them.<p>The advice from our lawyers was to just pay up unless we had the money to fight them in the 'Rate Court' <a href="http://www1.nysd.uscourts.gov" rel="nofollow">http://www1.nysd.uscourts.gov</a> Glad someone finally did.