"I don't believe it!"

"I don't believe it!"

"I don't believe it!"

"I don't believe it!"

"I don't believe it!"

Last week, the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) announced that it is working to establish a single standard for high-data-rate home networking using the powerlines already installed in consumers' homes. Stating that it is "recognizing the need for a baseline technology standard," the CEA says it has invited integrated-home-systems industry stakeholders to participate in the creation of a standard for residential powerline networks, to be completed by year's end.

The <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) reports that factory-to-dealer sales of audio products soared in March, with dollar volume increasing by 14% over March 1999, to a total of more than $721 million. According to the CEA, sales in the first quarter of this year were 10% ahead of first-quarter 1999, at approximately $1.75 billion.

The gold rush is on in the wake of a <A HREF="http://www.ftc.gov/">Federal Trade Commission</A> decision effectively ending the music industry's policy of minimum advertised pricing (MAP) on compact discs. Attorneys in California and New York wasted no time in filing class-action lawsuits against the music industry's major conglomerates, following the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10744/">FTC's announcement</A> May 10 that it had reached a negotiated settlement with them over a longstanding noncompetitive pricing policy.