Worldspace hits the buffers. Digital satellite radio broadcaster Worldspace - now known as lWorldspace - has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the USA, protecting it from its creditors. It's a shame the organisation that started with the intention of bringing high quality radio broadcasts primarily to the Third World has found itself in trouble, but I have to say I'm not in the least bit surprised. The service was free when it began, but subscription charges were then introduced. To a relatively rich European, the fee might have been trivial, but to someone who lives in the Third World (most lWorldspace subscribers are in India) and has difficulty putting food on the table it would be an entirely different matter. There's plenty of terrestrial digital radio for Europeans to listen to anyway.rnSo what are lWorldspace's creditors going to do with the 722,000 decoder chips they were contracted to purchase and the spare satellite that's in storage, not to mention the staff that have been laid off but apparently not paid? Personally, I find it rather curious that lWorldspace filed for bankruptcy in the USA, because it is one of the areas they didn't broadcast to.
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