Where does "fair use" end and piracy begin? Can consumers have open access to digital information and entertainment while respecting the rights of the creators of such content? Is there an inevitable collision between consumers and the rights of intellectual property owners? Can a happy balance be found in a world of high technology?

One of the dirty little secrets of the recording business is that some of its most precious assets are slowly self-destructing. In one example, a popular mastering tape supplied by Ampex to recording studios during the '70s and early '80s has been found to prematurely shed its oxide coating at an alarming rate due to poor quality control of the binding agents that hold the magnetic particles to the Mylar.

Contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet, audiophile recording label <A HREF="http://www.delosmus.com/">Delos International</A> is not abandoning the DVD-Audio format. A quick call to the Hollywood, CA&ndash;based company cleared up some confusion created when a few people noticed that "DVD-A" doesn't appear anywhere on the Delos homepage.

Forget the Serial Copy Management System, music fans. <A HREF="http://www.macrovision.com/"&gt; Macrovision Corporation</A> is taking CD copy prevention to the next level. The folks who made it impossible to loop your DVD player through your VCR want to make sure you can't copy new music either. On February 27, Sunnyvale, CA-based Macrovision announced that it will begin beta-testing its "Safeaudio Toolkit," a CD-audio copy-protection technology. One major record label has already completed its own testing, according to an official statement. Macrovision announced its <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10623/">intention</A&gt; to go forward with the technology late last year.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.philips.com">Philips Electronics</A> and Marantz Japan jointly announced that Marantz Japan intends to buy the Marantz trademark, as well as the European and American sales organizations, from Philips. The companies say that the transaction is due to take effect in the coming months. In addition, Philips says it intends to sell shares equal to 1.5% of all shares held in Marantz Japan, effectively reducing its ownership percentage from 50.5% to 49%.

If you've visited this website before, you'll notice that we're sporting a new look this week. You'll also find that, in addition to the new sheet metal and colors, there are also plenty of changes under the hood. The <I>Stereophile</I> site was originally launched on December 1, 1997. The old model lasted over three years, but three years is an eternity in Internet time, and we couldn't resist taking all of the comments readers have sent in over the months and sorting through them for fresh ideas.

Is there really a benefit to those pointy feet you have? Jonathan Scull has been surfing the Internet for cone-footer tweaks and theories and reveals his latest haul of hot finds in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//finetunes/319/">Fine Tunes #32</A>.

It's well known that women have better high-frequency hearing than men do, as well as a lower threshold of sensitivity. What's loud to most men is louder to most women.

Keith Herron plopped himself down in my listening chair and smiled, clearly pleased with the sound of my system now that his M150 monoblock power amplifiers had been substituted for my <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/205/">Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300</A>. He began to tell me why.