Mr. Schwimmer, 58, was familiar with its sound, but he hadn't seen it played until the late 1980s, when a clip of Clara Rockmore (1911-1998), perhaps the instrument's greatest virtuoso, ran on television.

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Curiously, Sony wasn't among the first wave of Crusoe demonstrators, even though it has an investment in Santa Clara, Calif.

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Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, said most courts have ruled that online spaces aren't covered by the ADA. "Congress never contemplated the Internet at the time, and if they had, they would have included it, " he said.

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