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Call off the lawyers

David Becker Staff Writer, CNET News.com
David Becker
covers games and gadgets.
David Becker
OK, so maybe the folks at LuxPro aren't the most copyright-oblivious bunch of potential defendants to ever hit the consumer electronics business.

Turns out the company's MP3 player, which raised eyebrows and predictions of legal ignominy last week, may not have been all that serious after all with its imitation of Apple's iPod Shuffle.

Doohickey blog Engadget reports that one of the fellows at DVForge, a maker of accessories for iPods, tried to get resale information from Taiwan-based LuxPro.

Turns out the company is a contract manufacturer, and the Shuffle clone exhibited at the CeBit trade show was just a prototype intended to A) Show potential clients what the company can do, and B) Generate vast amounts of publicity.

No doubt the Super Shuffle ploy was significantly more effective at the latter than the company's previous strategy of being the first manufacturer of MP3 players with interchangeable astrological faceplates.