Consumer groups, electronics companies and record labels squared off Wednesday in the first full public airing of proposals for antipiracy protections for digital radio networks. Digital radio, which transforms traditional over-the-air broadcasts into the same kind of bits and bytes used in Internet transmissions, promises to boost the audio quality of FM signals to that of a CD. But it …

For the first time, the No. 1 album in the United States is loaded with anticopying protections, marking a clear step into the mainstream for the controversial technology. According to figures released by Nielsen SoundScan, Velvet Revolver’s “Contraband” was the top-selling album in America last week, despite being prominently labeled on its cover as being “protected against unauthorized duplication.” The …

update Apple’s worst-kept secret–the imminent arrival of iTunes in Europe–was finally confirmed to the public at large today. Prefaced both by honky-tonk country tunes and old-time crooning piped into a hall the size of Cornwall, the London launch this morning saw the announcement of a catalog of 700,000 songs, plus videos and audio books finally accessible to British, French and …