EU regulator monitors Apple iPad and iPhone distribution



By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators are looking into possible anticompetitive issues involving distribution of Apple's iPhone and its iPad tablets because of what sources said were informal complaints from several telecoms operators.

The complaints to the European Commission underscore the broader battle between the telecoms industry and content providers, such as Apple and Google, which provide new digital services that run over telecoms systems.

A Commission spokesman on Friday said that the EU competition regulators had been informed about concerns over the world's most valuable technology company and its distribution practices for iPhone and iPad.

"There have been no formal complaints, though," Antoine Colombani told a regular Commission briefing.

"Generally, we are actively monitoring developments in this market. We will, of course, intervene if there are indications of anticompetitive behavior to the detriment of consumers."

Three people familiar with the matter said that several telecoms companies had aired their grievances to the Commission.

Their concerns focused on the commercial terms in contracts with Apple, said one of the sources, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

"Apple insists on a certain level of subsidies and marketing for the iPhone," said the source, who declined to identify the companies that had approached the Commission.

Apple's iPhone accounts for half of its revenue.

A second source said that the companies expressed their concerns to the Commission late last year.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said: "Our contracts fully comply with local laws wherever we do business, including the EU."

It is not the first time Apple has come under the scrutiny of the EU antitrust regulators. The company was the target of an investigation nearly three years ago over its iPhone business practices.

It subsequently allowed cross-border repair services and eased restrictions on applications for the iPhone, which resulted in the Commission dropping its investigation.

(Additional reporting by Leila Abboud in Paris; Editing by Rex Merrifield and David Goodman)

China's glamorous new first lady an instant internet hit



By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - With a smile on her face, dressed in a simple black peacoat and carrying an elegant unbranded bag, China's new first lady, Peng Liyuan, stepped into the international limelight on Friday and became an instant internet sensation back home.

Stepping off the aircraft in Moscow - the first stop of President Xi Jinping's maiden foreign trip since assuming office - Peng's glamorous appearance and obvious affection for her portly husband caused Chinese microbloggers to swoon.

"So beautiful, Peng Liyuan, so beautiful! How composed, how magnanimous," wrote one user on China's popular Twitter-like service Sina Weibo.

"Who could not love such a lady as this and be insanely happy with her?" wrote another.

Taobao, an online shopping site similar to eBay and Amazon, quickly began offering for sale coats in the same style of Peng's, advertising it as "the same style as the first lady's".

Others wondered what brand her bag and shoes were.

"Her shoes are really classic, and who designed her bag?" wrote a third Weibo user.

Peng is best known in China as a singer, and for many years was arguably better known and certainly more popular than her husband.

People who have met her and know her say that Peng is vivacious and fun to be around, though she was ordered to take a back seat after Xi became vice president in 2008 as he was being groomed for state power.

But she is expected to be given high-profile events of her own to attend on Xi's sweep through Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo on a week-long trip, as the government tries to soften the image of China abroad.

Peng has won praise for her advocacy for pet causes, most notably for children living with HIV/AIDS, and may visit charities related to this while abroad.

Unlike the baby-kissing politicians of the West, China's Communist Party works hard to keep its top leaders from appearing too human - to the point that for many, even their official birthdates and the names of their children are regarded as a state secret.

Xi and Peng are different. Their romance has been the subject of dozens of glowing reports and pictorials in state media.

"When he comes home, I've never thought of it as though there's some leader in the house. In my eyes, he's just my husband," Peng gushed in an interview with a state-run magazine in 2007, describing Xi as frugal, hardworking and down-to-earth.

Peng is Xi's second wife, and the two have a daughter studying at Harvard under an assumed name. Xi divorced his first wife, the daughter of a diplomat.

Chinese first wives have traditionally kept a low profile over the past few decades, because of the experience of Jiang Qing, the widow of the founder of Communist China, Mao Zedong.

Jiang was the leader of the "Gang of Four" that wielded supreme power during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. She was given a suspended death sentence in 1981 for the deaths of tens of thousands during that period of chaos.

(This story corrects the year Xi became vice president to 2008)

(Additional reporting by Megha Rajagopalan and Beijing newsroom, and Anita Li in SHANGHAI; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Ellen DeGeneres brings TV show to Australia



SYDNEY (AP) Ellen DeGeneres is so excited to be Down Under, she's even tweeting that way.

The talk show host's Twitter account had an upside-down message Friday saying, "I made it to Australia!"

She's visiting Sydney and Melbourne on her six-day trip to the country for segments being filmed for her popular U.S. television show.

DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi greeted fans at the Sydney airport upon arrival. Photos posted on the show's website and social media accounts showed the couple in front of the Sydney Opera House and DeGeneres looking at kaolas and a giraffe at Sydney's Taronga Zoo.

"The Ellen DeGeneres Show" is in its 10th season. DeGeneres was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor last year.

Judge sets rules for suit over Jackson doctor



LOS ANGELES (AP) A Los Angeles judge set the stage Thursday for trial of a civil suit by Michael Jackson's mother against concert giant AEG Live.

Katherine Jackson claims the company negligently hired the doctor later convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death and failed to oversee him. She and the singer's two eldest children are expected to testify about the singer's last days.

Legal rulings by Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos anticipated a three-month trial that will revisit events preceding the singer's death from an anesthetic overdose in 2009.

Dr. Conrad Murray, who was convicted of manslaughter for administering the drug propofol, is not named in the lawsuit. But the judge agreed to allow him to be brought to court from jail to testify outside the jury's presence. He has said he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to testify. But lawyers said he could possibly talk about non-criminal issues.

The judge said jury selection would begin April 2 and attorneys estimated the search for a panel could be long and difficult because of the notoriety of the parties and the estimated length of the trial.

The judge granted several plaintiff's motions and rejected a few.

She refused to bar AEG from raising the subject of child molestation charges against Jackson from years ago. Lawyers for his mother claim it's irrelevant because he was acquitted.

Katherine Jackson's attorney, Kevin Boyle, argued that "There is nothing more prejudicial than dropping that bomb in court, mentioning child molestation."

But Palazuelos said she would allow testimony that Jackson became despondent and reliant on drugs because of the charges.

She refused to approve inquiry into the finances of Jackson's siblings and barred any testimony about a claim that Katherine Jackson was kidnapped by family members and taken to Arizona last year.

She wouldn't permit AEG lawyers to ask questions about possible discord in the marriage of Katherine and Joe Jackson and she barred any inquiry into the identity of the biological parents of Jackson's three children.

Katherine Jackson's suit seeks hundreds of millions of dollars from AEG including $200 million in non-economic damages, including emotional distress.

The case centers on whether AEG did an appropriate investigation of Murray and whether they controlled him while he was preparing Jackson for a series of concerts in London.

During arguments, the question arose of why Katherine Jackson did not sue Murray. Attorneys disclosed that Jackson's son Prince and his daughter, Paris, testified in depositions that they believed Murray was "a good person" and didn't want him sued. But Katherine Jackson, who had the decision, testified it was financial, they said.

The judge said AEG could have sued Murray as well.

"The same questions can be asked of you," she told AEG lawyers. "Why didn't you sue him?"

"Because we're not required to," attorney Marvin Putnam said.

The judge called the issue "a side show."

"He has no money and that's why they're not suing him," Putnam said.

Analysis: Big Tech tests the waters of the music stream



By Poornima Gupta and Ronald Grover

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Technology giants Apple, Google and Amazon are furiously maneuvering for position in the online music business and looking at ways to make streaming profitable, despite the fact that pioneer Pandora has never made a profit.

It has been more than a decade since the iPod heralded the revival of Apple and presaged the smartphone revolution, even as music-sharing site Napster was showing the disruptive power of the Internet in the music business.

Now Google, Amazon.com Inc and Apple are among the Silicon Valley powerhouses sounding out top recording industry executives, according to sources with knowledge of talks and media reports. Streaming service Pandora is spending freely and racking up losses to expand globally. Even social media stalwarts Facebook and Twitter are jumping on the bandwagon.

All of them see a viable music streaming and subscription service as crucial to growing their presence in an exploding mobile environment. For Google and Apple, it is critical in ensuring users remain loyal to their mobile products.

Music has been integral to the mobile experience since the early days of iTunes, which upended the old models with its 99-cent per song buying approach. Now, as smartphones and tablets supplant PCs and virtual storage replaces songs on devices, mobile players from handset makers to social networks realize they must stake out a place or risk ceding control of one of the largest components of mobile device usage.

About 48 percent of smartphone users listen to music on their device, making it the fourth most popular media-related activity after social networking, games and news, according to a ComScore survey of mobile behavior released in February. Users ranked a phone's music and video capability at 7.4 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being most important purchase consideration factor, according to the study.

"Music is very strategic for the various electronic devices Samsung manufactures," said Daren Tsui, CEO and co-founder of streaming music service mSpot, which Samsung bought last year to create the Music Hub service now available on Galaxy smartphones in the United States and Europe.

"By owning it, we can absolutely customize the music experience and leverage the fact that it's not just a service but there's also a hardware component."

In January, Beats Electronics, the startup co-founded by recording supremo Jimmy Iovine and hip-hop performer-producer Dr. Dre, and backed by Universal and Warner Music, announced a new streaming-subscription service dubbed "Daisy" to take on Pandora and Spotify starting this summer.

Now, industry insiders expect Apple, Google and other technology titans to jump into the fray. Apple is talking with music labels about tacking a subscription service option onto iTunes, sources have said, while Google is said to be planning a YouTube subscription music service, according to media reports.

"There are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we're looking at that," a YouTube spokesperson said, but declined to comment on any specific negotiations.

Apple declined to comment.

Microsoft is already promoting its Xbox Music service. Their entry promises to catalyze an industry shake-up and propel music streaming further into the mainstream.

"ITunes was great but it needs a step forward," Iovine, chairman of Universal Music's Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records, told the AllThingsD conference in February. "There is an ocean of music out there that people want."

MOBILE MUSIC LOVERS

Music streaming, or playing songs over the Internet, has in recent years begun to come into its own as listeners increasingly choose to stream songs from apps like Pandora via their smartphones, rather than buy and store individual tracks.

The ad-free subscription model, where consumers pay a flat fee for near-unlimited listening time, is relatively new and quickly gaining popularity.

Pandora, one of the pioneers, is now trying to convert users of its free ad-supported radio service into subscribers. It says mobile users account for more than two thirds of its music, up from just 5 percent of listener-hours three years earlier.

Subscription services are expected to have crossed the 10 per cent mark as a share of total digital music revenues in 2012 for the first time, according to a recent report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents the recording industry worldwide.

Consumers spent $5.6 billion worldwide for digital music in 2012, an increase of 9 percent, offsetting the decline in CDs and other physical ways to provide music. That gave the industry its best growth since 1998, albeit a miniscule 0.3 percent, according to the IFPI.

Pure buyers "have to spend hundreds of dollars a month on music, which most people can't afford to do," Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek told Reuters in an interview last week at South-by-Southwest Interactive. "It's pretty obvious that the access model or the subscription model is a much better proposition for most people."

U.S. consumers will stream an estimated 100 billion tracks this year, says David Bakula, senior vice-president for client development and analytics for Nielsen Entertainment.

"The big question is who has the business model to make it work," said Bakula, a former executive at Universal Music, one of the four major music labels. "The first ones in the market may not be the winners."

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently met with Iovine and other Beats executives to find out more about that business. It is unclear if Apple will join Beats' Project Daisy.

SHOW ME THE MONEY

Making money off music streaming is difficult. Leading players Pandora and Spotify, despite attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in financing and millions of subscribers, have never reported a cent of profit.

No less a personage than Steve Jobs himself was a skeptic.

"Never say never, but customers don't seem to be interested in it," the late Apple co-founder and online music visionary told Reuters in a 2007 interview. Apple's current executives have not publicly stated their views on streaming music.

Pandora, which went public in 2011, now has 67 million monthly listeners worldwide - a 41 percent jump from a year ago - together listening to more than 13 billion hours of music.

But its losses more than doubled to $38.1 million in the year to January 31, 2013, hurt by the high cost of standard streaming licenses that typically have a per-track royalty model. This has forced Pandora, which relies mainly on advertising for revenue, to cap free mobile listening at 40 hours per month.

It and other music services such as Clear Channel Communications' iHeartRadio are now urging lawmakers in the U.S. Congress to pass the "Internet Radio Fairness Act," which would set royalty rates for subscription music services using the same standard that has so far been applied to other forms of radio.

But a group of 125 musicians, including Billy Joel and Rihanna, are speaking up against it, arguing that the bill would cut by 85 percent the amount of money an artist receives when his or her songs are played over the Internet.

The issue of how recording labels and musicians will be paid is one of the biggest roadblocks to growth. Competition will almost certainly force a shakeout, with winners and losers.

That could accelerate once major technology companies like Amazon and Google flex their marketing muscles, not to mention Apple with its ability to leverage its enormous base of online music buyers. The California gadget giant is unlikely to cede its lead in selling music without a fight.

While streaming could undercut sales of music tracks, Apple has always maintained that if there is potential for cannibalization of its products, the gadget maker would rather be in charge than let others in on it.

Finally, Microsoft has a large audience of Windows and Xbox players to whom it can promote Xbox Music Pass, a $9.99 a month service it launched in October. The software giant has declined to talk about its future plans in this area.

Bring it on, says Ek from Spotify.

"It's rare that gigantic companies figure out a new way to do something peripheral," Ek said. "I don't believe the world will only be controlled by a Google or an Apple. It will be companies who are great at games like EA, at films like Netflix, or at music like Spotify."

(Additional reporting by Gerry Shih in San Francisco; Editing by Claudia Parsons)

Zynga relaunches gaming site, loosens Facebook ties



By Gerry Shih

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Online game publisher Zynga Inc relaunched its website on Thursday, allowing users to play its games without first signing on to Facebook, a significant step toward establishing its independence from Facebook Inc.

The relaunch of Zynga.com is the latest step in the slow dissolution of a special partnership that once bound two of the most influential players in the social Internet industry.

Tim Catlin, general manager of Zynga.com, told Reuters he believed Zynga's players wanted to create unique player names that were not tied to their Facebook accounts, which displays their real names.

"You had to use your Facebook account to play previously, but this is going to change going forward," said Catlin, who added that existing players will still be able to log in with their Facebook accounts.

New players, however, will be able to easily sign up without using Facebook credentials - long a hallmark of many Zynga games.

"We've been able to greatly streamline that process," Catlin said of the new Zynga.com website, which has been in the works for the past year.

Founded in 2007, Zynga achieved a searing growth rate in its early years by exclusively tapping Facebook's network to gain new users while offering games directly within Facebook.com web pages.

For several years the companies enjoyed a lucrative and symbiotic relationship, with Zynga deriving close to 90 percent of its revenues from Facebook games, while Facebook received roughly 15 percent of its income in the form of fees from Zynga.

But Zynga's competitive advantage on the world's largest social network gradually shrank as other publishers entered the market, and the company's leadership has been faulted for not diversifying away from Facebook's platform earlier.

Last year, Facebook and Zynga announced that they agreed to amend a longstanding deal that had given Zynga special privileges on the Facebook platform.

Rather than relying on Facebook's communications features, Zynga has focused on building out features of its own such as its "social stream," a bar that is displayed within games to connect players to each other.

Zynga shares were up less than 1 percent at $3.38 after hours.

(This story was fixed to correct name of Zynga general manager to Tim instead of Tom in third paragraph and to say Zynga and Facebook amended deal instead of that deal had expired in 10th paragraph )

(Reporting By Gerry Shih; Editing by David Gregorio)

Ted Koppel: Quit moving airtime for 'Rock Center'



NEW YORK (AP) Veteran newsman Ted Koppel, who reports on Friday's "Rock Center" about young offenders in adult prisons, said NBC hasn't done Brian Williams and his young newsmagazine any favors with its scheduling shuffles.

The show debuted on Halloween 2011 and now airs on Friday after previously being on NBC's schedule for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

"Just when you think somebody might figure out when it's on and want to see it the next week, they move it to another place," said the former "Nightline" anchor. "That's not helpful, and I think Brian deserves more support than that."

He said Williams is "a powerhouse of a guy, and I think he's going to emerge triumphant in the end."

"Rock Center" has been averaging 3.8 million viewers a year this season, although it recorded less than 2.8 million last week in its Friday at 10 p.m. time slot, the Nielsen company said.

Koppel does about four or five stories a year for "Rock Center," in addition to some writing, work at National Public Radio and lecturing.

His story on Friday talks about thousands of youngsters placed in solitary confinement in adult prisons. They're sent to these prisons out of a public desire to see people who commit adult crimes punished like adults. To protect them against violence and sexual predators in prison, they're kept apart from the general population.

But being placed in solitary confinement creates its own set of problems, Koppel said. His story focuses on the experiences of Kevin Demott, a Michigan man with mental health issues who attempted armed robbery at age 13 and was kept in solitary for many months.

"I'd been interested in prison-related stories for a long time, and I had no idea we had so many kids in adult facilities," Koppel said.

Despite NBC's ratings problems, network TV still carries plenty of power to get the issue in front of people, he said.

"If a couple of million people end up seeing this piece on Friday night, and 1 percent may be moved to do something about it and say, 'this is crazy, we've got to get these children out of prison...,' then hallelujah, God bless the network."

"Deep Throat" porn actor Harry Reems dies after turbulent life



(Reuters) - Porn actor Harry Reems, who made his name starring opposite Linda Lovelace in the 1972 movie "Deep Throat", has died at the age of 65, according to his wife Jeanne.

She told the New York Times that her husband died on Tuesday in hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was reported to have been battling multiple health issues, including pancreatic cancer.

His death comes just months before the release of "Lovelace", a biographical film starring Amanda Seyfried in the title role and Adam Brody as Reems which will put the spotlight back on one of the 1970s' most active porn actors.

Reems's rollercoaster life off set reads like a script for a Hollywood movie as he transitioned from the marines to porn movies to alcoholism and then to religion and suburban life.

He was born Herbert Streicher into a Jewish family from Brooklyn, New York, and joined the Marine Corps after school.

After leaving the marines, he struggled to make a career as a stage actor in New York so, needing money, worked in a number of pornographic films.

But his breakthrough came when director Gerard Damiano hired him as lighting director on "Deep Throat". The original male lead failed to show up so Reems stepped in, playing a doctor helping Lovelace with a sexually sensitive area in her throat.

"Deep Throat" was the first porn film widely shown in theatres and made an estimated $600 million at the box office -- although Reems claimed he only received $800 for his role.

It also became the nickname for a source who helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein investigate the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation.

But the film also caused much outrage and Reems was convicted of obscenity in 1976. He admitted that the prospect of a five year jail sentence and trial put him under enormous pressure and set him on a path to alcoholism.

He launched a high-profile appeal backed by celebrities including Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty and the conviction was eventually overturned.

Reems, with a bushy black moustache and hairy chest exposed by his open shirts, went on to star in several other porn movies after "Deep Throat" but demand for his services started to wane by the 1980s as his battles with alcohol increased.

By the mid-1980s he was bankrupt, drinking heavily and homeless. It was not until 1989 that he sobered up, converted to Christianity, obtained a real estate license and married Jeanne in 1990.

In a 2005 interview with the Guardian, Reems described his battle with alcohol, his regret at going into the porn industry and the way his life had changed since he became sober.

"I'm happier today than ever. I saved my own life. I'm content with the way I conduct myself with my marriage, my home, my business," said Reems.

"I live in a small town where everybody knows everybody and nobody thinks of me as a porn actor."

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith)

Yoko Ono tweets against guns showing Lennon's bloody glasses



NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yoko Ono has taken up arms against gun violence with a raft of Twitter postings, including a photograph of blood-stained glasses apparently worn by John Lennon when he was shot and killed more than 30 years ago.

"Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on 8 Dec 1980," Ono, the former Beatle's widow, tweeted.

Below the message she included a photo of what appears to be Lennon's blood-stained eyeglasses, perched on a ledge with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop.

Lennon was shot and killed outside the Dakota apartment building in Manhattan as he and Ono returned to their home. Ono still lives there.

The bold text above the graphic photo is black, except for the words "Over 1,057,000" and "John Lennon," which appear in bright red.

Ono posted several more messages, including: "The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 33 years our son Sean and I still miss him. Yoko Ono Lennon," and "31,537 people are killed by guns in the USA every year. We are turning this beautiful country into a war zone."

Earlier this week, Ono tweeted filmmaker Michael Moore asking for his support.

"Michael Moore @mmflint Join me to kick off a mass movement against gun violence from your living room on Sat March 23 - Yes! love, yoko".

In other Twitter messages Ono, 80, linked an Oxfam video about global arms and the ammunition trade, a newspaper article on actors joining the anti-gun movement and a YouTube video of the parents of girl killed in a shooting.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Maureen Bavdek)

Simon & Garfunkel song among those to be preserved



WASHINGTON (AP) Simon and Garfunkel's song "Sounds of Silence," which was written amid the turmoil following President John F. Kennedy's assassination, will join Chubby Checker's 1960s dance hit "The Twist" as two of 25 recordings selected for preservation at the Library of Congress.

These are just a few sounds of the 20th century being added to the National Recording Registry on Thursday for long-term preservation due to their cultural, artistic and historic importance. The library said Checker's rendition of "The Twist" became a symbol for the energy and excitement of the early 60s after "American Bandstand" host Dick Clark chose Checker to record a new version of the song.

Later, the 1966 album "Sounds of Silence" by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel was a hit in its day but not before the duo struggled and split early on. Their song "The Sound of Silence" from the aftermath of President Kennedy's assassination 50 years ago this year had initially flopped but it became a hit after it was re-edited as a single. That prompted the duo to reunite and quickly record another album under a similar title.

Garfunkel, 71, told The Associated Press he's thrilled and flattered to have his work preserved in the Library of Congress. He said the hit album was a life changer for him and Simon. "Da da dee, da dee, da dee," he sang in an interview.

"There's something fundamentally appealing about the simplicity of those lines," Garfunkel said.

"When you look at the little mesh, wire microphone ... and you address people on the other side of the mic, you hope that your performance will be special, and you hope that it will have lasting power," he said, adding that he remembers thinking in the 60s that "if we do really good and give a very special performance to these great Paul Simon songs, we might last right into the next century and be appreciated."

Their words and their tune have taken on special significance in American culture. Hearing Simon sing "The Sound of Silence" on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, NBC newsman Tom Brokaw briefly struggled for composure. The music, he said, evokes memories.

This is the kind of impact the library was looking to preserve, "to celebrate the richness and variety of our audio heritage," said Librarian of Congress James Billington in announcing the selections.

The recording that received the highest number of public nominations for this year's registry was Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon." The library said it was notable as an example of "brilliant, innovative production in service of the music."

Other selections included the original 1949 cast album for "South Pacific" and the soundtrack to the popular 1977 movie "Saturday Night Fever," starring John Travolta and featuring the Bee Gees, which revived the disco craze.

The selections span from 1918 to 1980 and represent nearly every musical and recording category.

Recordings by Will Rogers, Jimmie Davis and President Dwight D. Eisenhower capture part of the political climate of their eras. In 1931, Rogers' radio broadcast at a low point in the Great Depression included a folksy chat with President Herbert Hoover to kick off a nationwide unemployment relief campaign. Davis' 1940 recording of "You Are My Sunshine" became his election campaign theme song while running for governor of Louisiana. It became one of the most popular country songs of all time and the state song of Louisiana in 1977.

Eisenhower's voice was carried in a prerecorded message in 1958 carried by the first communications satellite launched on a U.S. rocket. Eisenhower's message of peace to the world transmitted from space was touted as a victory in the space race after the Soviet Union launched a satellite the year before.

Van Cliburn's Cold War piano performance in Moscow when he won the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition at 23 also was selected. At the time in 1958, Time magazine noted his appearance and tour of the Soviet Union "has had more favorable impact on more Russians than any U.S. export of word or deed since World War II."

Earlier this year, the Library of Congress unveiled an extensive plan to help libraries and archives nationwide preserve recorded sound to guard against losing historic recordings. It's proposing 32 recommendations to Congress on actions to preserve endangered audio.

For his part, Garfunkel said he's still working, writing poems, putting together a book and singing. He said he's working to regain his voice after having vocal troubles. And he said he's ramping up to get back to the stage and wouldn't rule out a reunion with Simon when the time is right.

"Who knows what the future brings?" Garfunkel said. "This is my old buddy, the first friend I made in life."

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Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/

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Follow Brett Zongker on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat .