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Digital downloading is all the rage with the major record labels. EMI">http://www.emimusic.ca/">EMI Recorded Music, a unit of EMI">http://www.emigroup.com/">EMI Group PLC, announced May 10 that it will make some of its massive catalog available as digital downloads beginning this summer. More than 100 albums and 40 singles will be offered on a trial basis, according to a company press release dated May 10. EMI's musical spectrum covers every genre, including pop, rock, jazz, classical, Latin, Christian, country, rap/urban, and dance—a roster of approximately 1500 artists. Labels under the EMI umbrella include Capitol, Angel, Blue Note, EMI, Priority, and Virgin.

The entertainment industry's worst worry—copyright infringement—just got a lot worse. A consortium of 12 major high-technology companies has been organized to promote a rewritable DVD technology developed by the Pioneer Electronics Corporation, according to a May 9 press release from Tokyo.

The continuing legal attacks on Napsterhttp://www.napster.com/">Napster;, the free file-sharing software, and on MP3.comhttp://www.mp3.com/">MP3.com;, the downloadable music site, have spooked investors, according to the financial press. MP3.com's stock got hammered hard, dropping by about 40% almost immediately in the wake of a recent">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10737/">recent decision by US District Court judge Jed S. Rakoff in favor of the Recording">http://www.riaa.com/">Recording Industry Association of America's copyright-violation complaint against the Internet startup.

In early June, Toshibahttp://www.toshiba.com/">Toshiba; will institute a new retailing program that embraces the Internet but favors traditional retailers. The electronics manufacturing giant will have "a defined group of Internet retailers" that will be built on a base of traditional retailers, according to an announcement made in late April. Later, the program will be expanded in stages to include Internet-only retailers. The announcement follows an">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10662/">an announcement by Sony Corp. late in January that Sony would begin direct Internet sales this year.

Bothered by bounce? Jonathan Scull offers some solutions for turntable owners with problem floors in "Fine">http://www.stereophile.com//finetunes/226/">"Fine Tunes" No.20. He also describes how impoverished audiophiles can make their own low-cost anti-vibration shelves. Stereophile readers respond with their own experiences—and a warning.

Jonathan Scull thinks he has uncoverd the hot audiophile topic for the new millennium—e-commerce. He lays out the situation in "Fine">http://www.stereophile.com//finetunes/224/">"Fine Tunes" #19. Find out what various manufacturers are up to, and why.

In hopes of stoking the multichannel DVD-Audio engine, Burr-Brownhttp://www.burrbrown.com">Burr-Brown; announced last week the PCM1604 audio digital-to-analog converter, which they describe as a high-performance, 6-channel audio DAC featuring 24-bit capability and 192kHz sampling, for use in a "wide variety of multichannel audio applications."