After a lengthy delay Sony has finally released the latest version of its Network Walkman, the NW-MS9, in Australia. Sony, which has operates in both the consumer electronics and music distribution industries, has a natural obligation to ensure that their digital audio players help protect rather than infringe digital music copyright. Unfortunately, forcing Sony's digital audio players to walk the line between consumers and the law leaves them with a significant handicap.
Unlike most portable digital audio players that use internal or external flash memory in the form of SmartMedia, MultiMedia, or CompactFlash cards, the Network Walkman NW-MS9 from Sony uses MagicGate Memory Sticks. The Memory Stick is compatible with other Sony products, including digital cameras, and it can store different types of digital data. MagicGate is also the storage technology that Sony developed in conjunction with OpenMG, the company that equips its products with digital music copyright protection.
By using MagicGate Memory Sticks and an application called OpenMG Jukebox, Sony maintains strict control over your digital audio. All tracks downloaded to the player's removable 64M Memory Stick (there is no built-in memory) must be formatted in Sony's ATRAC3 codec instead of MP3 or Windows Media (WMA) format. OpenMG Jukebox rips CDs and converts all songs that are imported to playlists into ATRAC3 files.
If having to deal with the Sony codec isn't annoying enough, OpenMG also employs a checkout system, which restricts each track to three transfers to any Sony player. In order to check out a fourth instance of a particular tune, you have to check another song back in. Worst of all, unlike the Sony Network Walkman NW-S4, which can actually play MP3 and WMA files, the NW-MS9 leaves you stranded with ATRAC3.
