Barry Willis

Radio will finally go digital in 2001. Among the oldest analog media, radio will be the last to make the transition, but it should make much faster headway in the market than digital television has. Satellite digital radio broadcasters <A HREF="http://www.xmradio.com/">XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc</A>. and <A HREF="http://www.siriusradio.com/">Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc</A>. are both on schedule to go live in the coming year, aided by partnerships with automakers to make digital receivers available as options in new cars. A strong automotive aftermarket for digital radio receivers is expected, with some industry insiders predicting that the first models will retail at approximately $100 apiece. Both XM and Sirius will offer multiple channels of music, news, comedy, sports, and talk show entertainment&mdash;all for about $10 per month per subscriber.

American radio stations which stream music programming over the Internet may be facing substantial outlays in royalty fees paid to record companies, under a December 8 ruling by the US Copyright Office, a division of the Library of Congress. After months of legal wrangling, the office decided that radio stations are just as liable for such fees as other music sites. "Transmissions of a broadcast signal over a digital communications network such as the Internet are not exempt from copyright liability," the ruling states.

The <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10924/">fate</A&gt; of Hales Loudspeakers has been a subject of much concern and discussion among audiophiles since the shuttering of parent company Wadia Digital a few months ago. There is now considerable light at the end of the tunnel, as revealed by Hales founder L. Paul Hales in a telephone interview December 22.

Many audiophiles&mdash;especially owners of Hales loudspeakers&mdash;have wondered whether or not the brand will be revived, in view of a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10918/">recent announcement</A> by Audio Video Research of Ann Arbor, Michigan that it has acquired the assets of Wadia Digital and plans to resume production and product development of the revered name. Wadia acquired Hales (two of whose products were still <I>Stereophile</I> "Recommended Components" as of October 2000) last year, just a few months before financial difficulties put Wadia into a nosedive from which it could not recover.

One of the industry's nastier legal disputes is over. Boulder, CO-based <A HREF="http://www.avalonacoustics.com/">Avalon Acoustics, Inc</A>. has withdrawn a threatened "trade dress infringement" lawsuit against competitor <A HREF="http://www.silverlineaudio.com/">Silverline Audio Technology, Inc</A>. of Concord, CA, according to an Avalon press release circulated December 7. "Trade dress infringement" is a legalism referring to a competitor's use of a design that has become so closely associated in the public mind with a particular brand that it amounts to a virtual trademark.

Thirteen months after announcing its <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10593/">return</A&gt; to manufacturing, Memphis-based speaker maker <A HREF="http://www.egglestonworks.com/">EgglestonWorks</A&gt; is back in a big way, with plans to debut a "radical" and "visually provocative" reference loudspeaker at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The <A HREF="http://www.siriusradio.com/">Sirius Satellite Radio</A> constellation will soon be in position, thanks to the successful launch November 30 of Sirius-3, the third satellite in the Sirius system. The transponders are being arrayed in geosynchronous orbits above North America for maximum radio coverage, which will begin in 2001. The previous two satellites were launched last summer and in early autumn.