LATEST ADDITIONS

Music file&ndash;sharing service <A HREF="http://www.napster.com/">Napster Inc.</A> appears to be losing its fight against the <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com/">Record Industry Association of America</A>. On May 8, judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the US District Court in Northern California rejected two of Napster's key defenses: that it is a "mere conduit" of information, like a telephone network; and that it had made serious efforts to prevent "repeat offenders" from using the site. Telephone companies, Internet service providers, and other types of information services are exempt by law from being responsible for the information transmitted over their systems, provided they make reasonable attempts to control abuses. Napster doesn't qualify on either count, Judge Patel found.

Digital downloading is all the rage with the major record labels. <A HREF="http://www.emimusic.ca/">EMI Recorded Music</A>, a unit of <A HREF="http://www.emigroup.com/">EMI Group PLC</A>, announced May 10 that it will make some of its massive catalog available as digital downloads beginning this summer. More than 100 albums and 40 singles will be offered on a trial basis, according to a company press release dated May 10. EMI's musical spectrum covers every genre, including pop, rock, jazz, classical, Latin, Christian, country, rap/urban, and dance&mdash;a roster of approximately 1500 artists. Labels under the EMI umbrella include Capitol, Angel, Blue Note, EMI, Priority, and Virgin.

The entertainment industry's worst worry&mdash;copyright infringement&mdash;just got a lot worse. A consortium of 12 major high-technology companies has been organized to promote a rewritable DVD technology developed by the Pioneer Electronics Corporation, according to a May 9 press release from Tokyo.

In this issue's "Letters" column, you will find comments from readers who are bothered by what they perceive to be this magazine's emphasis on reviewing very expensive technology. Yes, we do cover a lot of cutting-edge technology, and it is, of necessity, expensive. But our experience has been that that technology invariably trickles down to products that real people can actually afford.

I visited the Revel room on the last day of the January 1999 CES, expecting another dynamic demo of their Ultima line. Instead, I found a pair of floorstanding Performa F30s connected to a rack full of the best Mark Levinson electronics. Deeply impressed by the dynamics and clarity of this first model in the new Performa line, I called Revel's Kevin Voecks as soon as I got back to New York City, but was told that another <I>Stereophile</I> reviewer had already got first dibs on the F30. Would I be interested in one of the other Revels? Well, yes, sure, but...

The continuing legal attacks on <A HREF="http://www.napster.com/">Napster</A&gt;, the free file-sharing software, and on <A HREF="http://www.mp3.com/">MP3.com</A&gt;, the downloadable music site, have spooked investors, according to the financial press. MP3.com's stock got hammered hard, dropping by about 40% almost immediately in the wake of a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10737/">recent decision</A> by US District Court judge Jed S. Rakoff in favor of the <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com/">Recording Industry Association of America</A>'s copyright-violation complaint against the Internet startup.

MP3 may be under constant attack by audiophiles, and by music-industry attorneys in the courts, but the format shows no indication of disappearing. Santa Clara, CA&ndash;based <A HREF="http://www.s3.com/">S3</A&gt;, maker of the Rio portable audio player, has reason to believe that MP3 has plenty of growth potential. The company is going after licensees for the Rio to make knockoffs, and has plans to produce Rio-type players for home and car audio this summer.