Verizon on Thursday took preemptive action and paid the music royalty group ASCAP $4.99 million as an "interim" license for cellular ringtones on its V CAST service. The payment covers all ringtones bought since November 11th 2004 and is meant to temporarily settle the issue until the two settle a dispute over how much Verizon owes, if at all, for the short samples. It's unclear if the payment is reversible.
