The music industry's worst nightmare is coming true: feeble attempts to shackle compact discs with "protection" are falling prey to simple <A HREF="http://news.com.com/2100-1023-918273.html">felt pen hacks</A>. And it's too late to build use-restriction and tracking technologies directly into CD players and existing computer CD drives.

Used-equipment junkies take note: eBay will bring its popular roving university to New York City for the Home Entertainment 2002 Show (HES 2002), May 30&ndash;June 2, 2002. Since its inception, eBay University has instructed thousands of eBay users on the ins and outs of buying and selling on eBay. The special seminar from eBay at HE 2002 will provide specific tips for attendees on buying and selling consumer electronic products.

The music industry was much in the news in late May, with file-sharing lawsuits launched, Web royalties deferred, the payola system attacked, and an artists-and-record labels coalition questioning the homogenization of radio.

Back in 1987, J. Gordon Holt & Martin Colloms set their sights on the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/585/">Audio Research M300 monoblock power amplifier</A>. "After having proven that vacuum tubes could do some sonic things better than transistors, Audio Research is now endeavoring to show that transistors can do most things better than tubes," says JGH, adding that the then-new M300 is a "hybrid amplifier . . . it's half tube, half solid-state."

Russia has a new organization that will promote a legitimate music industry and fight industrial piracy, according to mid-May reports from the <A HREF="http://www.ifpi.org">International Federation of Phonographic Industries</A>.

French-speaking Canada's premier A/V, home theater, and new technologies publication, <I><A HREF="http://www.quebecaudio.com">Quebec Audio-Video</A></I> has once again offered its readers an opportunity to attend <A HREF="http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com/">Home Entertainment 2002</A> in New York City for free! Franco Moggia, editor of <I>Quebec Audio-Video</I>, says, "After the tragic events of September 11, we had to support our American friends and colleagues by repeating last year's contest."

eBay and Primedia have announced an industry-wide <A HREF="http://www.ebay.com/hes/">online</A&gt; charity event, which will culminate during the <A HREF="http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com/">Home Entertainment 2002 Show</A> (HE 2002), May 31&ndash;June 2, 2002. The charity event will bring the latest and greatest in home-theater and audio products to enthusiasts around the world, while benefiting The Elf Foundation, a charity created and supported by the consumer electronics industry.

Earlier this year, the <A HREF="http://ce.org/">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) tried something a little different and ran the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas during the week, starting on a Tuesday, instead of in its normal slot over the weekend. The hope was that the show would not compete with the normally crowded Las Vegas weekends, and would offer showgoers more flexibility in finding hotel rooms and taxi cabs.

A pair of audiophile-friendly speakers for under $250? <I>That</I> prospect piqued Robert J. Reina into closely examining the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/580/">PSB Alpha B loudspeaker</A>. Reina notes that designer Paul Barton "is not one to rest on his laurels. Into this third and latest generation of the Alpha, the Alpha B, he has trickled down some of the design and manufacturing innovations of his more expensive Image series."