Will Tube Amps Be Banned Next?

[pauln]

I bought some of these fancy lights. I have to turn them off when I play my electric guitar because I can hear them whining through the amp.

[3dzapper]

I heard that this will be the only legal amplifier in California. Next year, all residents will have to register their audio equipment of face fines or prison. In five years, it must all be turned in or prison terms will apply.

[Deang]

However, If you change the handle on the crank, it will be legal.

[mike stehr]

"LEDs don't look so great either, though color mixing technology takes care of that."

Todd Rundgren has LED lighting for his tour shows. It's sort of a modular set-up, IIRC. Dunno how it would look at a show, but the pics shown of the stage lighting on the website looked rather impressive.

[Guest " "]

I hope not...I just bought another amp.

[Parrot]

Revenue generated on EBay is already taxable! Always has been!

If you are a vendor you are required to report income from EBay as income.

But the proposal is not just for people who make a living at it (vendors) but everyone. Don't even try to tell me that average people who sell a CD or a book or a receiver on eBay pay taxes on it currently.

[coda]

eBay income (profit) has always been taxable, the proposal that eBay is fighting tooth and nail now is to be required to automatically report all auction sales and PayPal remittances to the IRS. I can see online sellers moving over to craiglist if that happens.

looks like Europe is close to jumping on the incandescent ban next, strange to think at some point our current light bulbs may be collector items. if some country decides to ban tubes for amps guessing current tube prices may go up, not down, unless a better technology for amplification appears.

Philips Lighting CEO says industry at 'tipping point' on energy-saving bulbs

Published: Monday, February 26, 2007

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - European light bulb makers are close to

an agreement in principle to work together on phasing out

energy-wasting incandescent bulbs for the consumer market, the chief

executive of Royal Philips Electronics NV's lighting division said

Monday.

Philips is the largest lighting maker globally, followed by Siemens

AG, known for the Osram-Sylvania brands. General Electric Co., whose

founder Thomas Edison patented the incandescent bulb in 1880, is

biggest in the United States.

In a telephone interview, Theo van Deursen said "the tipping point

is very close, to be frank, for the (European) lighting industry" to

agree on a phase-out of incandescent bulbs in the home. He said an

announcement from a group of major producers could come as early as

this week.

Energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, were introduced

decades ago, but their adoption has gathered momentum recently amid

worries about human impact on global warming and rising energy costs.

Earlier this month, Australia's government announced plans to ban

incandescent bulbs within three years, while a California legislator

has introduced a bill seeking to do the same in the state by 2012. The

province of Ontario, which is drawing up a plan to reduce greenhouse

gas emissions, also says it might introduce similar legislation. Last

year, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, began

actively promoting the bulbs.

CFLs on the market today are around three times as energy-efficient

as incandescent bulbs, and last much longer. But even though they save

money in the long run and are more environmentally friendly, consumers

have been reluctant to adopt them for a variety of reasons, most

importantly because they cost more per bulb.

Van Deursen said the European Union was "very positive about a call

to action in September," and has asked member states to report on plans

for using energy-savings bulbs by governments.

But the European industry hasn't yet agreed on a parallel push for energy-saving bulbs in homes.

Van Deursen criticized GE for a statement it published last week

saying it planned to introduce a new generation of energy-efficient

incandescent bulbs by 2010.

"I don't think we should wait until 2010, because there are

alternatives available now," he said, adding that he didn't know the

details of General Electric's plans, but he didn't believe traditional

incandescent lighting has a long-term future.

"We believe there are better technologies going forward," he said.

He predicted that halogen lights and CFLs will continue to gain market

share in the medium term, but in the long term, light emitting diodes,

or LEDs - the same that power many flat-panel computer displays - will

dominate the market.

LED lamps, which are up to 12 times as efficient as incandescent

bulbs, last even longer than CFLs, and can produce light in any colour,

are only now being introduced to the market as a high-end product.

The GE statement said that the company has invested $200 million over

the past four years in energy-saving bulbs. Van Deursen said Philips'

investment level has been "at least twice that."

Philips lighting reported operating earnings of 635 million euros

($834 million) on sales of 5.47 billion euros ($7.18 billion) in 2006.

Van Deursen said consumer lighting isn't a large enough component of

the company's earnings for wide-scale adoption of energy-saving bulbs

to dramatically affect the company's bottom line, though he said it

could make a major contribution to reducing global energy usage.