This is only a preview of the December 2001 issue of Silicon Chip. You can view 28 of the 96 pages in the full issue, including the advertisments. For full access, purchase the issue for $10.00 or subscribe for access to the latest issues. Items relevant to "Build A PC Infrared Transceiver":
Items relevant to "100W RMS/Channel Stereo Amplifier; Pt.2":
Articles in this series:
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PUBLISHER’S LETTER
www.siliconchip.com.au
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD
Production Manager
Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.)
Technical Staff
John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.)
Peter Smith
Ross Tester
Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc, VK2ZLO
Rick Walters
Reader Services
Ann Jenkinson
Advertising Enquiries
David Polkinghorne
Phone (02) 9979 5644
Fax (02) 9979 6503
Regular Contributors
Brendan Akhurst
Rodney Champness, VK3UG
Julian Edgar, Dip.T.(Sec.), B.Ed
Mike Sheriff, B.Sc, VK2YFK
Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW
Bob Young
SILICON CHIP is published 12 times
a year by Silicon Chip Publications
Pty Ltd. ACN 003 205 490. ABN 49
003 205 490 All material copyright
©. No part of this publication may
be reproduced without the written
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Printing: Hannanprint, Dubbo,
NSW.
Distribution: Network Distribution
Company.
Subscription rates: $69.50 per
year in Australia. For overseas
rates, see the subscription page in
this issue.
Editorial & advertising offices:
Unit 8, 101 Darley St, Mona Vale,
NSW 2103. Postal address: PO Box
139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097.
Phone (02) 9979 5644.
Fax (02) 9979 6503.
E-mail: silchip<at>siliconchip.com.au
ISSN 1030-2662
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2 Silicon Chip
Copyright is the lifeblood
of a magazine
Copyright for software, films and music is often
in the news but not so often as far as magazines are
concerned. People often think that large corporations protecting their copyright are being greedy but
the truth is that copyright is a “right”. Copyright is
owned by the company or person who originally
produced or paid for the material and they have
every right to be paid for it.
Which brings us to SILICON CHIP. Silicon Chip
Publications Pty Ltd, the publisher of this magazine,
is not a large corporation but a small Australian
family-owned company. Yet it is subject to exactly
the same attacks on its copyright every day. Countless thousands of people regularly photocopy articles or scan the magazine rather than buy their own copy
from the newsagent. Photocopying is rife in municipal libraries, schools, TAFE
colleges, universities and businesses, and virtually every copy made means a lost
sale of the magazine.
Yes, we do get an annual payment from the Copyright Agency Limited for
photocopying in schools and TAFEs but it is really small – absolutely ludicrous.
Why am I writing this? Because I am constantly confronted by people who
think that we should provide all sorts of information for free, especially via the
Internet. Some people even think that the magazine should be much cheaper
and would be if we printed on recycled paper. How little they know. The fact is
that producing a magazine like SILICON CHIP is very labour intensive. “Labour
intensive” means that there are lots of wages and contributors’ fees to be paid,
on top of printers’ bills, distribution costs and so on. And nor is recycled paper
cheaper; it is dearer.
We also frequently see requests on Internet newsgroups for scans of SILICON
CHIP articles. It is nice to know that the articles are popular but how do these
people think the magazine is supposed to survive in the long run if everything
is being done for free? If you get a request from someone for a copy of an article
in your SILICON CHIP, please politely refuse. We need their support, as well as
yours. Thanks.
While I am constantly aware of all of this, it has been highlighted recently by
the closure of “Electronics Australia” after over 70 years of publication. When we
started SILICON CHIP, in 1987, there were three other electronics magazines: EA,
ETI (Electronics Today International) and AEM (Australian Electronics Monthly)
and heaps of imported magazines. Now there is just one Australian electronics
magazine and that is SILICON CHIP.
There are probably many reasons why the other three magazines ceased publication but first and foremost must be a gradual loss in their circulation over
the years. And a significant part of the loss of circulation is inevitably due to
photocopying. It is “death by a thousand cuts”.
Fortunately, SILICON CHIP is viable and is here for the long term. Since we are
produced by a family company and not by a large corporation, we are not subject
to the often arbitrary pruning that occurs in large organisations when times are
tougher. But we still need your support to grow and flourish and this means more
people buying (yes, paying for) the magazine at the newsagent or via a subscription.
So if you are one of those people who often photocopies articles in other peoples’
magazines or from library copies, please think about your actions. Don’t leave it
to other people to pay for the magazine, buy it yourself.
In the overall scheme of things, magazines are cheap; $6.60, the cost of this
magazine, does not buy much else, not even a family pizza.
Leo Simpson
www.siliconchip.com.au
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