MP3 corruption bug in Windows 7 Beta

IMPORTANT - Download the patch which fixes the MP3 corruption bug in the Windows 7 Beta build! It's not publicly available yet, but for those of you who are subscribers of Technet , you'll see it: KB961367

Earlier Neowin.net had reported that

users testing the latest leaked build of Windows 7 indicate a potential data corruption issue using Microsoft's Windows Media Player 12.
Windows 7 beta 1 build 7000 leaked over the Christmas holidays and a Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed that there is a bug which affects the leaked build. Approximately 2-3 seconds will get shaved off the beginning of MP3s if you have set your Windows Media Player 12 settings to retrieve information from the internet and update files. The default configuration for WMP12 sets this if you use the "express" option during setup.
"The problem only happens when you edit metadata on a certain class of MP3 file (a file with a header larger than 16KB). When the new metadata is written, it corrupts the beginning of the file. This can happen either when you edit the metadata from inside WMP or Explorer, or it can happen if you have WMP set to automatically fill in missing metadata using the online service and add the MP3 to your library. This problem is only present in the recently leaked build" (7000) according to one poster in our forums.

The following is however not true. The same problem is plaguing the builds which were released to users through Technet.

This highlights the importance of not using leaked builds with any applications or data that is critical and waiting for beta builds from official channels. We expect Microsoft to stress the urgency of applying the QFE patch to those in the beta program.

Besides Paul Thurrott confirms that the Beta is indeed the build which had leaked sometime in December.

The build I wrote about back in December is indeed the official Windows 7 Beta and the version that everyone will get this week. Indeed, Microsoft created this build a month ago, on December 12, 2008, and then tested it for 10 days to ensure that it met the quality bars required to ship as the Beta. You can see this date for yourself in the full build string which is, in the x86 (32-bit version),7000.x86fre.winmain_win7beta081212-1400.