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For the second consecutive year, a film using the Nagra Digital Recorder (Nagra-D) as the location sound device has been nominated for an Oscar Award for Best Sound. The film this year is L.A. Confidential, which has received a total of 9 Oscar nominations. The winners will be named at the 70th Annual Academy Awards on March 23, 1998. Last year, The English Patient, which also used the Nagra-D, won the award for Best Sound

There was buzz about many rooms at the High End Munich show but perhaps few were as talked about as the Nagra/Wilson Audio Specialties setup in Atrium 4.1 F130. It seemed to be among the more packed ones, a tough room to get into. I passed by twice before I was able to poke my head in, then was only able to return briefly near the end of the show.

On May 29, Adam Wexler's Resolution A/V, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, debuted new products from two heavy hitters in the audio world: Brooklyn's DeVore Fidelity and the renowned Swiss brand Nagra.

On January 14, anyone calling Naim Audio heard an Elgar recording, and visitors to the Naim">http://www.naim-audio.com">Naim website forum learned the sad news that founder and managing director Julian Vereker had died. The company—indeed, British hi-fi as a whole—is mourning the loss of one of its brightest and strongest personalities.

One of the most revered names in the audio industry is seeking legal protection from its creditors. On November 19, Nakamichi">http://www.nakamichi.com">Nakamichi Corporation Japan "applied to the court of Japan for a civil rehabilitation," in the words of a company press release on the development, issued the next day. On the 19th, Nakamichi stock closed at ¥22/share (approximately 17¢); the Tokyo Stock Exchange announced that the company would be de-listed effective May 20.

Music file–sharing service Napster">http://www.napster.com/">Napster Inc. appears to be losing its fight against the Record">http://www.riaa.com/">Record Industry Association of America. On May 8, judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the US District Court in Northern California rejected two of Napster's key defenses: that it is a "mere conduit" of information, like a telephone network; and that it had made serious efforts to prevent "repeat offenders" from using the site. Telephone companies, Internet service providers, and other types of information services are exempt by law from being responsible for the information transmitted over their systems, provided they make reasonable attempts to control abuses. Napster doesn't qualify on either count, Judge Patel found.

Andy Warhol's famous dictum—that eventually, everyone will enjoy 15 minutes of fame—could apply equally to Internet startups.