She nodded her head yes and lied when I asked her if she was alright. Her brown eyes blinked a song in perfect time to keep from letting loose tears. My lovely friend was sad.

Here's one you don't see every day: competing press releases over a store dropping a product line—or vice versa.

Remember that whole "broadcast flag" kerfluffle? Well, it ain't over yet&mdash;not if the Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC) and the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) have anything to say about it. If you <I>don't</I> remember the broadcast flag imbroglio, or if you thought it had been vanquished by the DC Circuit Court in May 2005, here's an update.

Yes,<br>
it is<br>
true:<br>

In a press conference held September 28 at Sony Music Studios on West 54th Street, MusicGiants &mdash;see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/051605musicgiants">Wes Phillips' earlier story</A> on this company&mdash;announced the launch of a new music download service that offers CD-resolution digital recordings from the major artists on the major music labels, EMI, Sony/BMG, Universal, and Warner.

While <A HREF="http:/www.stereophile.com/news/100305musicgiants">some</A&gt; are trying to push the quality of paid music downloads up, others are pushing in the other direction. <A HREF="http://www.sandisk.com">SanDisk</A&gt;, primarily known for flash memory cards used in portable devices like digital cameras, is launching "gruvi," described as "the first removable flash memory card of its type to be sold with premium music content."