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In a move sure to startle a few record retailers, English recording artists Massive Attack will make their much-anticipated new album, Mezzanine, available in its entirety on the Internet weeks before the May 12 in-store release date. The album will appear in stages over the course of two weeks via a special">http://www.virginrecords.com/massive_attack">special page on Virgin">http://www.virginrecords.com">Virgin Records America's web site.

You may have noticed recent news items about proposals to deregulate the electrical power industry. You may have received solicitations to sign on with some start-up utility you never heard of, promising 10% to 40% reductions in your electrical bill. The model for this deregulation---if it comes to pass---is the long-distance telephone industry.

On March 12, Energy">http://ovonic.com.">Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. announced that Sony">http://www.sony.com">Sony Corporation has expanded its royalty-bearing license under ECD's proprietary phase-change rewritable optical-memory technology to include advanced technology for use in rewritable CD and DVD optical-memory products. Phase-change technology, invented by ECD, is used in PD and CD-RW rewritable optical-memory discs.

March 9, AKM">http://www.akm.com">AKM Semiconductor, Inc. introduced the AK5392, a 24-bit stereo analog-to-digital (A/D) converter based on its proprietary dual-bit delta-sigma technology. The AK5392 reportedly achieves a dynamic range of 116dB, said to be a 15dB improvement over other single-chip alternatives.

In an announcement that could stun the neophyte custom CD compilation business and concurrently impact future prospects for the $12 billion music recording industry, superSonic">http://www.supersonicboom.com/">superSonic BOOM has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Ergon Technology for a patented manufacturing process covering customized audio products. Like Open">http://www.openmarket.com">Open Market's announcement last week that it had received patents from the US government for its e-commerce technology, superSonic's announcement raises more questions than it answers.

Several companies spanning the personal computer, communications, and consumer electronics industries announced March 4th the formation of a working group that will develop a specification for wireless communications in the home. This specification will allow PCs, peripherals, cordless telephones, and consumer electronic devices to communicate and interoperate with one another.

In cooperation with the International Intellectual Property Alliance, the Recording">http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America filed a reportmailto:lpelliccia@riaa.com">report; in February with the United States Trade Representative outlining the problems that US record companies face conducting business in foreign marketplaces. The report highlights inadequacies in copyright protection with respect to standards and enforcement, and identifies major impediments to market access.