Honestly? I thought for sure this item over on Slashdot was a mistake...

Panasonic Begins To Lock Out 3d-Party Camera Batteries

...until I followed the link to this Panasonic support page...

Important Notice for non genuine Panasonic or 3rd party battery packs (Recommendation for Use of Genuine Panasonic Battery Pack)

...and read:

[ Warning ] After this firmware update your Panasonic Digital Camera cannot be operated by 3rd party batteries (non genuine Panasonic batteries).

Although I'm a long time fan of Canon cameras (both film and digital), I'm very impressed by the two Panasonic Lumix cameras we've bought in my household (I still use Canon cameras myself). And, to be honest, I tend to buy spare batteries from the manufacturer so this firmware update doesn't affect me. But, still if only some 3rd party batteries are bad, why punish the entire market?