Bose manufactures a speaker line known as "Lifestyles" and charges that CEDIA's use of "Electronic Lifestyles" resembles its trademark to the…
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On March 22, it was announced that the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) had received another ruling in its favor from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in the action brought against it by Bose Corporation to cancel CEDIA's trademark registrations for the phrase "Electronic Lifestyles." The Board denied Bose's motion for summary judgment and declined to consider fraud claims against CEDIA regarding the registrations.
With few exceptions, 2003 has been a slow year for specialty A/V retailers. In late November, both Ultimate Electronics and Tweeter Group reported disappointing figures for their third and fourth fiscal quarters, respectively. New York's Harvey Electronics, however, posted respectable gains given the stagnant economy.
Canton, MA - based Tweeter Home Entertainment Group reported that for the fourth quarter ended September 30, revenue was up 1% at $184.9 million, compared with $183 million in the same period last year. Sales at comparable stores, however, dropped 6.8% during the three months…
Warner Music Group is supporting efforts by the DVD Forum to create a hybrid dual-layer CD/DVD-audio disc, according to reports from New York the first week of December. WMG, a unit of AOL Time Warner, is one of the music industry's principal backers of the DVD-Audio format.
The creation of a hybrid disc would require amendments to the "Red Book" CD standard. CD players, under the current standard, can't read DVD-Audio discs—for that matter, neither can most DVD-Video players, which default to a DVD-Audio disc's alternate Dolby Digital multichannel tracks, as if the disc were a DVD movie…
As tighter restrictions on the use of both audio and video digital content loom in the legislature, the Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC) and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) have teamed up to counter the ever-increasing demands from copyright holders. The HRRC, founded in 1981, is a leading advocacy group for consumers' rights to use home electronics products for private, non-commercial purposes.
The HRRC notes that one of its core concerns is that the flexibility offered by new digital communications technology "not be reserved for enjoyment only by content industries.…
Electronic equipment worth millions of dollars is damaged every year by lightning strikes and power outages caused by summer storms. These seasonal threats have been amplified by the possibility of rotating blackouts, as well as resulting recent policy changes by major utility companies.
Many electrical utilities have longstanding policies that insure homeowner's equipment and appliances against damage that can be proven to have been the fault of the utility company, such as voltage spikes or grounding problems. California's Pacific Gas & Electric was one such company, but its…
On November 12, the audio forum Head-Fi staged a meet at the Adria Ramada Inn and Conference Center in Bayside, NY. You may be asking yourself, What's a Head-Fi meet? That's a complicated question, but the simplest answer is that it's an attempt to provide a real-world equivalent to the sense of community that Head-Fi's forum has engendered on the Internet. It's also a chance for like-minded enthusiasts to share their favorite equipment and software with one another. In a hotel conference room, some 30–40 headphone lovers set up their systems (frequently incorporating more than one headphone…
Apple vs Apple: Despite persistent rumors of an impending settlement, the trademark dispute between Apple Corps, the Beatles' record company, and Apple Computer remained unresolved as of late September. The rift arose from the computer company's entry into the music business with its iTunes Music Store, in apparent violation of a previous deal in which it agreed not to do so. One possible outcome of current discussions between the two companies could be the first-ever online availability of Beatles recordings, an exclusive arrangement that might give iTunes an advantage over its competitors.…
Kalman Rubinson reviews the MSB Platinum Link Plus D/A processor, revealing, "I have a warm spot in my heart for MSB's approach to product development." With this latest product, will Rubinson's heart continue to glow?
Next, Art Dudley creates more controversy with his appraisal of the 47 Laboratory 4715 D/A processor & 4716 CD transport. Dudley says, "It seems to me that the two-box Shigaraki combo from Japan's 47 Laboratory is aimed more at that old-style hobbyist—the individualist, if you will—than the average audiophile."
Records to Die From? In "Listening #3," AD confronts…
Within the confines of the cozy analog audiophile kingdom, things couldn't be better: Turntables, cartridges and phono preamps can be found in abundance, while mounds of new and used vinyl can be scored by the truckload.
But outside, in the wilds of the larger music community, the analog herd's numbers are falling precipitously. The first shockwave hit the recording industry when it was announced that Quantegy, the last remaining manufacturer of professional analog recording tape and the only US recording tape manufacturer, had closed its doors on the last day of 2004.
Studios,…
Canadian music fans are breathing a collective sigh of relief in the wake of a ruling by a federal justice that sharing music over the Internet doesn't violate the nation's copyright laws.
On Wednesday, March 31, Justice Konrad von Finckenstein stymied efforts by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) to rein in file-sharing activity by music fans who had made large collections of recordings available to others via services such as KaZaa and DirectConnect. His decision means that 29 alleged large-scale copyright violators, to date known only by their screen names and IP…