Last week, Billboard reported that the Senate announced a new bill to regulate "webcaster" rates for sound recordings. The purpose of the bill is to make internet webcasting payments and use of sound recordings similar to traditional radio practices of a flat per-song rate, which is useful only because a radio station can never truly know how many listeners are tuned in.

Internet radio, on the other hand, knows generally how many listeners are out there, and thus has enjoyed a different system, which benefits the copyright holders over the record labels. The new bill raises the rates internet radio stations pay and brings the system there close in tune with traditional radio stations. Furthermore, the new bill would be "retroactively" applied to all music played since January 2006.

The bill eliminates the amounts of profits the internet radio provider receives because the system is a flat per-song rate, like traditional radio. In the war of digital growth and the record labels, this is another win for the record labels, because internet radio cannot enjoy the profits that are part of traditional radio's payments to the record labels in the flat per-song rate.

With its extensive Web-based platform Google has been pushing into a myriad of categories such as spreadsheets, wi-fi, mapping, enterprise search, and so on. Then again the company's mantra regarding building products is: "No constraints" (you can get more details on this from the company's Analyst Day PowerPoint).

Well maybe there are some self-imposed constraints. Despite intense rumors, it appears that Google will not move into the online music category. This was according to Chris Sacca, the biz development vice president at Google. He made the statement at the annual National Association of Recording Merchandisers conference.

True, from a technology standpoint, building an online store would be a no-brainer for the programming jocks at Google. After all, the company has already developed an online video property.

But Sacca's comments were true to Google's impeccable fuzziness. For example, he also mentioned that online music needs "ecosystem development." Huh? And, he also said, partnerships will be important.

So, is he really saying that Google will not go-it-alone but instead do something within a strategic alliance?

Given how big online music is it's certainly odd that Google would opt out. Besides, isn't the goal of Google to organize all the world's information?

Then again, let's face it: Apple is doing just fine with its online music play. And even though Google has a big footprint this does not necessarily translate into success. Keep in mind that for the most part it's non-search products are not faring too well. So, why expect Google to do well in online music if it can't seem to get much traction in, say, online video?

If anything this may be Google's way of saying that, gulp, it does have constraints.