News <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11094/">last week</A> about SafeAudio CD copy protection indicates that while fighting pirates, the major record labels are also attempting to seal off the ability of users to place their own music from CDs onto computers. If they succeed, the only alternative for consumers who want non-pirated music on their desktops will be to buy content directly from the labels themselves, or companies set up to legally supply digital audio.

We were saddened to learn of the death of audio guru Harvey "Gizmo" Rosenberg, who died Monday, July 16 of an apparent heart attack. He was 59.

One of the most astute bits of folk wisdom is the old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

In what is intended to have the biggest impact yet on the thriving "rip, mix, burn" lifestyle, <A HREF="http://www.macrovision.com">Macrovision</A&gt; has revealed that several record labels have been secretly putting its copy protection system onto new CD releases since around March of this year (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10985/">previous report</A>). The process, called SafeAudio, is a Macrovision registered trademark and is intended to prevent the copying of CDs, or tracks from CDs, onto CD-R discs and computer hard drives. The technology was developed jointly by Macrovision and <A HREF="http://www.ttrtech.com">TTR Technologies</A>.

There appears to be nothing more important to the music business today than controlling the distribution and use of digital content on the web and in the home. Proprietary schemes to prevent or control the use of audio files have become hot commodities and valuable assets for many companies. <A HREF="http://www.liquidaudio.com">Liquid Audio</A> recently announced that the US Patent Office has awarded the company a patent (#6,219,634) for its watermark technique used for distributing secure digital music files.

While doing research for his analysis of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/378/">Totem Acoustic Forest loudspeaker</A>, Larry Greenhill uncovered a legacy of great reviews for the company's previous products each ending with a final "but . . ." comment. But . . . does Greenhill discover any killer "buts" with the Forest? He explains in detail.

The year has been a good one so far for New York's Harvey Electronics and for national electronics retailer the <A HREF="http://www.tweeter.com">Tweeter Group</A>. The news isn't so rosy for West Coast chain the Good Guys.

I have to remember how seriously audiophiles follow Stereophile. Reader David Zappardon's (davida@gscyclone.com) e-mail to me began with "Hello, my friend." But I have to admit to feeling some guilt when he yowled that he'd wasted two fruitless hours of his time looking for the silver-bearing conductive grease I'd mentioned in the October 2000 "Fine Tunes."