Apple are to appear in court after being accused of abusing their position as leaders of the digital music market. The news comes after individuals and businesses were angered by an iTunes update in 2006 prevented non-Apple devices from gaining access to songs. The company are yet to comment on the news, although footage of late Apple founder Steve Jobs is to be used during the trial as evidence as well e-mails sent by him.
The case is to be heard in a Californian court, with lawyers representing consumers and electronics companies claiming the company forced music fans to purchase iPods over other devices for three years between 2006 and 2009. They say that the update artificially increased the price of iPods and are looking for $350m in damages – which is to be tripled due to federal anti-trust legislation.
It’s predicted that Apple will attempt to identify holes in the argument about artificially-inflated prices. The iTunes store was launched in 2003, with music files being encoded with Digital Rights Management software to prevent songs bought through the service being played on other devices. Apple are also accused of preventing songs bought from other retailers being played on iPods, with the company also being said to have blocked attempts to bring in new coding to override this. The code was finally removed in 2009.
Was your enjoyment of music spoiled by Apple in the late 2000s or do you think they had every right to implement the coding? Let us know below.
