BMI, the music licensing agency that represents 180,000 songwriters and music publishers, has developed a Web robot to make sure copyright holders are justly compensated for music played on the Web. The so-called "Musicbot" will surf the Web to identify sites that use music and to count the number of people who visit them.

Up till now, BMI has not initiated legal proceedings against potential copyright violators on the Web, but a company vice president says that "it stands to reason in the future that it will happen."

(c) AP