Barry Willis

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has responded to an ongoing copyright infringement suit being pursued in a US District Court by the music industry against Verizon Communications, Inc.

The Music Online Competition Act (MOCA) has won the imprimatur of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), according to an announcement made August 8. The recently-introduced bipartisan bill crafted by Congressmen Chris Cannon (R-Utah) and Rick Boucher (D-Virginia) intends to insure competition in the delivery of online music—and to preserve music lovers' rights to copy their own recordings for private use.

Music industry executives widely believe that "ring tones"—snippets of favorite tunes—and music downloadable to cell phones will be the next big trend, perhaps one that could help restore some luster to the industry's tarnished bottom line. "Music-related products for PCs and mobile phones are on pace to deliver as much as $500 million in combined revenue in the US for 2004, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures and analysts' projections," reported Brian Garrity in a mid-December issue of Billboard.

Now there are three—Cello spinoffs, that is. More than two years ago, prior to Cello Technologies' ill-fated expansion, company founder Mark Levinson departed to create Red Rose Music. Late in 2000, former vice president of business development Jim McCullough formed Matthew James LLC, which will make and market a new generation of Cello electronics. In early April, Viola Audio Labs announced its debut.