21.   Kodak has been on a photo lab buying binge and needs to eliminate duplicated operations.

22.   Kodak, based in Rochester, New York, continues to expand its stable of photo labs through acquisitions.

23.   Kodak has been buying photo labs around the world the past year and needs to eliminate duplicated operations.

24.   Many photo labs now routinely ask whether you want your prints on paper, disk or e-mail.

25.   Once a photograph is digitized the home computer becomes a virtual photo lab.

26.   Once a photograph is digitized, the home computer becomes a virtual photo lab.

27.   Photo labs remove the exposed film, produce negatives and prints, then -- ideally -- return the empty cases to manufacturers for recycling.

28.   Some photo labs include electronic images along with the prints at very little additional charge.

29.   That means consumers will have to buy new cameras being developed by the alliance and photo labs will have to invest in new photo developing equipment.

30.   That was the question for Rockford, Ill., investigators after they received a tip last September from a local photo lab about a prominent obstetrician.