iTunes User Sues Apple For Only Letting Music Play On The iPod

from the interesting-legal-questions... dept

Well, this should be interesting. An "unhappy" iTunes user is now suing Apple for antitrust violations, claiming that they broke antitrust laws by only allowing their music to play on iPods -- blocking out other music players from the market. It's unlikely that he'll win the lawsuit, and honestly, it sounds more like a setup by an Apple competitor than just some individual who feels wronged. The guy in question says he was "forced" to buy an iPod in order to make use of the music he bought on iTunes, but the courts will likely point out that he could have gone to a competing online music store. Of course, what this really highlights is how some of these copy protection issues are building fragmented worlds. How would people react if the CDs they bought at Tower Records could only play on Tower-branded radios? Thanks to the way the industry views intellectual property online, the end result is a lot of competing separate worlds, which actively discourages use.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Tim, 6 Jan 2005 @ 7:29am

    No Subject Given

    Why doesn't he sue everyone else who makes an mp3 or ogg player for not striking a deal with Apple to co-operate? Takes two to tango, after all.

    And: line-out, line-in, no more problem.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Chomper, 6 Jan 2005 @ 9:38am

    No Subject Given

    or maybe this just shows how dumb some people are.

    People are so damn lazy today.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.