0.  V29N1 of the BAS Speakers has been published. It features 3 meeting summaries: CEDIA with Steve Owades, CES Reports, and the December Flea Market, and Back to the Future at the Sands (Las Vegas) by Anthony Shull. 24 pp

1.  BMG Japan has issued a 40 cd set of Charles Munch and the Boston symphony Orchestra. Many have never been issued on CD before.

2.  "Record firms crack down on campuses", asking 13 colleges, including UMass to identify file swappers. The RIAA said 80 million tunes were legally downloaded last December, but illegal downloads were nearly 486 million songs. "We are certainly not copyright thief types." said Robyn Werry who with her husband have been fighting an RIAA suit filed against them last year. Werry said her children had been downloading music but added, "Why is it so easy for them to do it if it's illegal?" The RIAA has so far settled about 5,700 of the 18,000 lawsuits, usually for around $4000. Werry's legal advisers have persuaded her to do the same, because she has little chance of winning. UMass said the school would provide the information promptly and would cut off any offending student's Internet access, at least temporarily. Boston Globe 8Mr07

3.  classicalmusicmobile.com, based in Paris, France, has downloads of great classical recording of the past for 1 Euro each ($1.25), regardless of length. They are relying on the fact that in Europe, copyright for recorded music expires after 50 years, so anything before 1957 is up for grabs. Best sellers include Maria Callas' La Traviata and Madam butterfly and Knappertsbusch's 1951 Parsival. I downloaded a French opera performance, just to be safe, 90 minutes in length and it took about 6 hours (10 cents worth of electricity) with my dial-up connection. It is MPEG 192 kbps, encoded as a zip file to save space. The three acts are 3 files, with no other subdivisions, and there are no notes other than a listing of principal performers. Payment was by PayPal. It is a 1955 performance and on first listen sounds a little tinny, but it is an historical performance. BBC Music Magazine Mr07

4.  For BAS members out of town we have a special offer for Jazz lovers. A package of 30 Jazz CDs, randomly picked from Ira Leonard's collection, for $22 including shipping in the USA. To order, send a check, made out to "Boston Audio Society", to David Hadaway, POB 460, Rindge NH 03461. These were donated to the Society by Ira's brother, Joe Leonard.

President, Boston Audio Society

email me HERE