Not all Washington lawmakers are on the Hollywood payroll. Some even risk offending Big Entertainment by upholding their sworn duty to protect their constituents' interests. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) is such a legislator.
A "victory for consumers" may be a windfall for class-action attorneys and 41 states participating in a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10818/">price-fixing case</A> against the music industry. Some schools and public libraries may also benefit.
<I>The Monsters are Due on Maple Street:</I> In the 1960 <I>Twilight Zone</I> episode with this title, inexplicable power outages and celestial lights cause the citizens of an idyllic American town to accuse one other of being aliens. Fear feeds suspicion, hysteria turns to mayhem, and soon lynch mobs roam the streets and former friends are burning down each other's homes.
<A HREF="http://www.ti.com">Texas Instruments</A> has released a new chip that advances the performance of high-resolution digital audio while limiting consumers' ability to enjoy it.
An expanded alliance between one of the High End's most respected speaker manufacturers and one of the most aggressive upscale retailers should bode well for both partners—and for music lovers nationwide.
<A HREF="http://www.RedRoseMusic.com">Red Rose Music</A> is celebrating the launch of its Chicago store with a grand opening bash Thursday, September 26.
On Wednesday, September 11, the <A HREF="http://www.nab.org">National Association of Broadcasters</A> (NAB) filed a brief with the U.S. Copyright Office seeking relief from the implementation of a webcasting royalty schedule announced this summer by the Librarian of Congress, James Billington. In June, Billington determined that commercial stations streaming their musical programming on the Internet should pay a rate of .07 cents per song per 1000 listeners, a rate less than half that suggested by the music industry–backed Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel.
Home theater may be the electronic industry's golden goose, but, contrary to nasty rumors, standalone audio is sailing along proudly, as demonstrated by several recently released products.
The US economy took a severe downturn last year following the terrorist attacks of September 11, and this year has been hit by the stock market's decline in the wake of the accounting scandal–fueled collapse of Enron and WorldCom, Inc. Electronics retailers have ridden out the slump fairly well, buoyed by a consumer trend toward "cocooning," or putting their disposable income into their homes. For most retailers, the popularity of DVD and home theater has offset diminishing sales of stand-alone audio.
Advances in technology almost always debut at the high-end and gradually filter down to mass-market products. <A HREF="http://www.sharp-usa.com">Sharp Corporation</A>'s 1-bit digital amplification technology is no exception.