Based on the comments I think Panasonic is within their rights here, but still I would probably not buy from them. I'll stick with cameras using rechargeable AA

Based on the comments I think Panasonic is within their rights here, but still I would probably not buy from them. I'll stick with cameras using rechargeable AAs. Possibly somebody will figure out how to make a knock-off battery that the camera recognizes as genuine Panasonic, putting us back at square 1 again.