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Russell, no mention of this in the owner's manual. I do read the manual, and I am familiar with the SONY scheme from several years back and would have been annoyed to find it there. I purchase downloads primarily from Amazon (I shouldn't, because they don't pay the artist well) and iTunes (much better corporate policy toward paying artists) and have never encountered a problem.



Matt, the problem I've had can be traced back to Sony Records ... That is, if the artist recorded with Sony Records (the production company), that is where I've experience a problem.

Then for Christmas this year I got a card for some downloads to use at amazon. Two of the 10 that I downloaded had this issue and it wasn't even a Sony Records production -- I assumed from that experience that other production companies are jumping on the bandwagon.

I took the same two MP3's that I had trouble with and loaded these onto my new Sansa Fuze and they played fine ... from that, I concluded that it is a two-sided deal which is to say that you'll evidently only realize a problem under two conditions ... One, that you're playing back via Sony hardware and two, that the track you're playing (assuming it's a legally purchased track), was produced by Sony Records.

BTW my Sony CD unit (part of my stereo equipment), is only just over two years old.

Just my own observations kids ... I don't claim to know exactly what's going on here. And, I'd still purchase Sony home audio equipment despite this little snafu.

Ike