Cupertino, CA. Everyone talks a lot about video conferencing on the net. And let’s face it, it doesn’t work… yet. But audio conferencing might just get somewhere, even with the Internet’s current bandwidth constraints. And if it does work, it looks like a natural for audio manufacturers and services that want to provide customer support via the web (editor’s note: for that matter, it might be a good thing to have in place here at AudioWorld!).

OnLive Technologies Inc. think they can do the trick. The company is about to announce a new audio conferencing server and browser plug-in technology that will make real-time, multi-person audio conversations possible over the Internet. Web surfers will use the OnLive Talker™ plug-in to log in at chat rooms where they can talk with other users in their own voices. Chat rooms can be set up at any web site, but they will require OnLive’s server software.

OnLive is already hosting six online forums at its web site, where users can test out the software. Beta versions of the client software are available for free download at the site. TThe OnLive server will will be available in December, according to the company. The system requires a Pentium multimedia PC with a SoundBlaster 16 or compatible 16-bit sound card with Windows 95 driver. And a mic and speakers!

Ottawa, Canada. In the deepest cuts yet in a decade-long saga of budget cutting and downsizing, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has slashed almost $200 million (CDN) from its budget.

Combined with measures announced a year ago, still working their way through the system, the latest cuts mean that the CBC is cutting a total of more than $400 million (CDN) from its current annual budget of $1.4 billion (CDN).

The cuts will have a profound effect on the scope of CBC radio and television programming. Beginning next fall (1997), CBC’s networks will have cheaper programming, more repeats, fewer regional shows, smaller news departments, more commercials, and far fewer employees.

FAR fewer employees. When the cutting began last year, CBC had about 9,000 full-time employees and between 2,000 and 3,000 part-time workers. By 1998, the full-time work force is expected to drop to 6,000.

Cuts are being distributed evenly across the CBC operations, including the radio services — four national networks, English AM & FM, French AM & FM. The English radio budget drops to $94 million (CDN) by 1998, down from $128 million (CDN) in 1994. The French radio budget drops to $62 million (CDN) from $82 million (CDN).

The surprisingly heavy hit to radio means that the impacts will be severe in the audio profession. It is expected that job loss in the radio sectors will be relatively high, due to the high percentage of the radio budgets that go to salaries. This means that hundreds of audio engineers and technicians will be out of work within two years.

In announcing the drastic measures yesterday, CBC President Perrin Beatty said the public broadcaster will preserve most of its local TV news operations, but do away with almost all other local television programming. He said the corporation would refocus on its mandate, to preserve and foster Canadian culture and identity, which means doing away with all U.S.-produced programming by 1988.

Changes to CBC Radio operations will include the elimination of most local programming except for the morning shows, and major reductions in network programming. CBC V-P of Radio Harold Redekopp says that original music production and arts programming will be reduced significantly.

New York, NY. Among the various stories of interest to the audio community emerging from the Interactive Multimedia Association’s IMA Expo’96, which wraps up today in New York, perhaps the most unexpected is news of a decision regarding the copyright status of MIDI data files.

The MIDI Manufacturers Association, (MMA) announced that the U.S. Copyright Office has decided that MIDI files are subject to mechanical compulsory licenses when not accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work.

This is a controversial decision. According to the MMA, it clears the air around MIDI-file licensing, and allows MIDI to move into the mainstream consumer audio market. MMA expects the decision to prompt publishers to reduce the fees they charge for licensing MIDI recordings of musical works. At the same time, it will lead to increased numbers of published MIDI files, and greater overall revenues to publishers.

“MIDI technology can dramatically improve music education, games and Internet applications,” said Tom White, President of the MMA. “But until now, licensing for audio-only MIDI files has been difficult and expensive.”

In essence, the Copyright Office has said that MIDI files are audio recordings, for copyright purposes.

Speaking for the Copyright Office, principal legal advisor Charlotte Douglass said: “[we] consider the media upon which aural sequences are recorded (unaccompanied by visual images) to be phonorecords and that such media are subject to a mechanical license or compulsory license under Section 115. The output of Standard MIDI files are works of authorship copyrightable as sound recordings since the information in the file causes the sound device to render the pitch, timbre, speed, duration and volume of the musical notes in a certain order, as does a compact disc player in conjunction with a compact disc.”

“This opinion clarifies for everyone that MIDI files are no different from other forms of audio,” said Brian Ward, special counsel to the MMA. “This has been the critical missing link for explosive growth in consumer interactive audio applications.”

Mountain View, CA. Desper Products, Inc., the audio products division of Spatializer Audio Laboratories, Inc. today announced Digital Virtual Surround-5.1™ (DVS-5.1). This is a technology that enables Dolby Digital Surround (AC-3) playback from two conventional speakers or headphones, instead of the 5+ speakers normally required.

DVS-5.1 is the second such technology introduced this month. Two weeks ago, Aureal Semiconductor Inc. announced Aureal 3D™ (A3D), which will use proprietary Aureal chips to get the job done. Desper’s technology is currently running on the Motorola 56009 AC-3 decoder, and is available for licensing on numerous DSP platforms.

“With the advent of high-density data media such as DVD, DSS and HDTV, consumers will find more software titles, music and videos are encoded in the AC-3 format,” said Steven D. Gershick, President and CEO of Spatializer. “However, not everyone can justify having six speakers to enjoy true multi-channel playback. With DVS-5.1, we offer an easily implemented, cost-effective, high-fidelity two-speaker solution for AC-3 multi-channel audio playback.”

The name DVS-5.1 refers to the speaker configuration of Dolby AC-3: 5 main speaker channels at left, center and right front, left and right surround; plus a low frequency channel (the “.1”) directed to a subwoofer if available. In DVS-5.1, the surround, center-front and low frequency channels are eliminated and their corresponding signals are processed by DVS- 5.1 to simulate the effect of loudspeakers placed at those locations.

Murray Hill, NJ. Lucent Technologies, the recently formed spin-off from AT&T and Bell Labs, today established a new venture group to market high-quality voice, music and video software for applications on the Internet.

The new division will be called elemedia (elements for multimedia), and it will deliver products under the Media Plus™ label. The line will include software to enable FM stereo/CD-quality audio software for services such as music-on-demand and real-time audio broadcasting. Other offerings will include voice software for “telephone quality” conversations over the net, and speakerphone software, to give PCs and Internet phone devices full-duplex capabilities.

“We’re capitalizing on a more than a decade of Bell Laboratories software research and development in packet technologies to bring Internet telephony to the level of quality people are accustomed to,” said Joe Mele, President of elemedia. “This software will help move voice, music and video over the Internet beyond the current base of technologists and hobbyists and into the mainstream.”

With this mission, elemedia is positioning itself to go head to head with the current industry leaders in realtime audio delivery over the Internet: Progressive Networks (RealAudio™), Xing (Streamworks™), and VocalTec (Internet Phone™).

Among the first to adopt elemedia’s Media Plus software will be Soundprint Media Center, a provider of Internet services for the public radio broadcasting industry.