POP/ROCK - May 18, 1987

Singer Emmylou Harris and record company executives in Washington last week urged a House subcommittee to protect musicians and songwriters by requiring that new digital audio tape machines be equipped with devices to prevent tape copying. But the Home Recording Rights Coalition, which opposes restrictions on home taping, warned a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that banning digital audio tape, or DAT, machines unless they contain anti-copying devices would be “fundamentally unwise.” Japanese-made DAT tape machines, not yet available here, are digital cassette players and recorders capable of making perfect-sounding copies of compact discs and/or other DAT tapes.