[DMCA-Activists] ITunes User Sues Apple Over IPod

[Seth Johnson]

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4151009.stm (story below)


ITunes User Sues Apple Over IPod - 6 January 2005


A user of Apple's iTunes music service is suing the firm saying
it is unfair he can only use an iPod to play songs.

He says Apple is breaking anti-competition laws in refusing to
let other music players work with the site.

Apple, which opened its online store in 2003 after launching the
iPod in 2001, uses technology to ensure each song bought only
plays on the iPod.

Californian Thomas Slattery filed the suit in the US District
Court in San Jose and is seeking damages.

Key

"Apple has turned an open and interactive standard into an
artifice that prevents consumers from using the portable hard
drive digital music player of their choice," the lawsuit states.

The key to such a lawsuit would be convincing a court that a
single brand like iTunes is a market in itself separate from the
rest of the online music market, according to Ernest Gellhorn, an
anti-trust law professor at George Mason University.

"As a practical matter, the lower courts have been highly
sceptical of such claims," Prof Gellhorn said.

Apple has sold more than six million iPods since the gadget was
launched and has an 87% share of the market for portable digital
music players, market research firm NPD Group has reported.

'Unlawfully bundled'

More than 200 million songs have been sold by the iTunes music
store since it was launched.

"Apple has unlawfully bundled, tied, and/or leveraged itsmonopoly
in the market for the sale of legal online digitalmusic
recordings to thwart competition in the separate market for
portable hard drive digital music players, and vice-versa," the
lawsuit said.

Mr Slattery called himself an iTunes customer who "was also
forced to purchase an Apple iPod" if he wanted to take his music
with him to listen to.

A spokesman for Apple declined to comment.

Apple's online music store uses a different format for songs than
Napster, Musicmatch, RealPlayer and others.

Rivals use the MP3 format or Microsoft's WMA format - or in the
case of Real its own AAC format - while Apple uses AAC with its
own copy protection, which it says helps thwart piracy.

The WMA format also includes so-called Digital Rights Management
which is used to block piracy.