News

After posting a round-uphttp://www.stereophile.com/news/110705sony/">round-up; of the news about Sony BMG's F4i's XCP digital rights management system (DRM), which hid itself inside consumers' computers' root-kit code, I spent a frantic week simply trying to keep up with all of the breaking news on the issue on my bloghttp://blog.stereophile.com/wesphillips/">blog;. During the week of November 7, I posted no fewer than 9 URLs outlining breaking news on the Sony story. However, by the end of the week, the company was reeling from the news that hackers had managed to install malware (malicious programs that dismantle a computer's firewall protection) on consumers' computers that masked its presence by using the hidden software placed there by Sony BMG's DRM system.

As audiophiles, we all started somewhere, and the important fact is, we all started with a love of music. When it came to music playback equipment, more than a few of us remember the fold-up record player stacked with 45s, or the little transistor radio tucked under our pillow at night with a low-fi, one-channel earpiece attached.

The holiday season is upon us, and if you have someone on your gift list—especially a youngster, but really, anyone—whom you'd like to introduce to the wonders of world music, I've got just the ticket. And even if not, read on, because this story will do you good.

Rarely does a day pass when Wes Phillips doesn't send his pals a bunch of emails with links to stuff he's found while Web surfing. Frequently it is audio-related, but even when it's not, there's usually something there worth checking out.

On November 1, Window OS expert Mark Russinovich revealedhttp://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-righ…; that his root kit detection utility had uncovered the presence of some well-hidden, poorly written code that was clogging computer resources and could potentially crash his computer or, if removed, disable his CD drive.

The hits just keep on coming in fair-use land. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has proposed legislation that requires that all digital radio content be encrypted, including works that now exist in the public domain. The proposed legislation would apply to satellite radio (Sirius, XM) as well as conventional terrestrial broadcasting. As proposed by the RIAA, content could be recorded only in blocks of 30 minutes or longer, and the recorded data could not be exported from the recording device (in other words, you could only play it back on the device you had recorded it on—no more recording programs on your hi-fi to listen to on your way to work). To learn more about this legislation, go to Public">http://www.publicknowledge.org/news/analysis/digital-radio-2pager">Publ… Knowledge's two-page summary. While you're there, you might want to check out "Why">http://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/why">"Why These Issues Matter."

The 2006 edition of the Stereophile Buyer's Guide is out now. Listing the specifications of more than 5000 audio components within its 212 large-format pages, the Buyer's Guide is exclusively concerned with products for music reproduction, as opposed to the bangs, bonks, and battle noises typical of movie soundtracks.

Film">www.filmmusicradio.com">Film Music Radio (FMR), one of the newest outposts in the expanding galaxy of cyberspace music media, emerged from the digital ethers on September 13. The Internet radio station streams film and television soundtracks around the clock, and offers genre-based block programs and unique DJ-hosted specialty shows.

Stereovox's new Signals: Stereovox, Inc. and Signals-SuperFi, LLC have announced that worldwide distribution for Stereovox products will be handled exclusively by Signals-SuperFi from its Atlanta, GA offices as of November 1, 2005. Known for innovative audio, video, and digital cable technology, Stereovox hopes to increase its exposure and market share by more closely associating with the luxury audio brands represented by Signals-SuperFi.

What happens to your old audio components? We're asking Stereophile readers that">http://cgi.stereophile.com/cgi-bin/displayvote.cgi">that very question this week, but the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has already studied the habits of general consumers and found that most unwanted consumer electronics go to secondary users, not into America's waste stream.