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The fine is a victory for France's Federale des Consommateurs (UFC) which took Sony's French and UK subsidiaries to court over the use of restrictive DRM on downloads sold through its Sony Connect store. Apple was also named in the lawsuit for a similar practice in its iTunes Store and that case is expected to be heard later this year.

UFC convinced the court that Sony was 'deceiving' consumers by forcing them to buy its own players to listen to the downloads. Despite imposing the fine, the court declined to order Sony to drop its DRM, instead insisting that it clearly states that its range of digital Walkmans will not play downloads from other companies' services.

Sony declined to comment, saying only that it is considering whether to appeal.