SSI Issues - strange characters and extra spaces

I am using the old Server Side Includes (SSI) for the first time and am having issues. The includes are working, but when the page renders a character that looks like a rectangle standing vertically and extras spaces are inserted into my source HTML code (not front-end) . Basically this throws off my whole front-end layout. I have searched and searched and I can't seem to find anyone else with this issue. What could be causing the creation of this character and the extras spaces? FYI, I have tried, 1) taking all the spaces out before and after the include statement and in the include files and 2) different FTP clients and methods. File name = Home.shtml and the include statement is <!--#include file="copyright.html" -->.

Please help! Thanks.

i guess it is a BOM thing.
http://neosmart.net/blog/2006/expression-web-designer-and-internet-explorer-think-again/

both Dreamweaver and Expression Web add the BOM character on saving. be nice to not have this issue.