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Unfortunately in an effort to legitimize MP3 storage devices to the music industry (who are afraid of illegally downloaded MP3 songs cannibalizing the sales of actual CDs) RCA and other manufacturers are forcing an encryption routine on the pathway between your PC and the MP3 player.

It's somewhat silly really, as the goal of the encryption is to halt a user from downloading some MP3 songs from a CD to their Lyra, carrying the player to another PC say at a buddy's house, and then uploading the MP3 songs to the secondary PC.

Isn't this what email attachments are for?

In any case users should be warned that once MP3 songs are stored on the Lyra it's a true one way street. The only way to manipulate the stored MP3s is to play them, or delete them. I took to calling the Lyra the "MP3 Roach Motel" which was inspired by the popular advertising slogan of a roach-trapping device. (Remember it? "Roaches check in…But they don't check out").

Other than the strange encryption requirement, the Lyra is somewhat generic in its behavior and featureset. Unlike Creative Lab's NOMAD MP3 player, the Lyra has no potential to perform any voice recording or dictation, and it also provides no other data displays say for stored phone numbers or previously saved notes to yourself which we've seen from other non-brand name MP3 portables.







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