Ex-Apple engineer Rod Schultz wrote a paper in 2012 citing “a secret war” that Apple fought with iTunes competitors. In the paper, he wrote, “Apple was locking the majority of music downloads to its devices".
The engineer was subpoenaed to show that Apple tries to suppress rivals to iTunes and iPods. The court submission argues that Apple’s anti-competitive actions drove up the prices for iPods from 2006 to 2009 and plaintiffs are seeking $350 million in damages, which could be tripled under antitrust laws.
The Wall Street Journal notes that 'Outside the courtroom Schultz said the early work of his former team reflected the digital-music market’s need for copyright protections of songs. Later, though, he said it created “market dominance” for the iPod. Schultz left Apple in 2008.'
Related Stories
El Reg reports
Apple has prevailed in an almost decade-long antitrust legal battle over the way its iPod gadgets handled music not obtained through iTunes.
A federal jury in Oakland, California, took just four hours to clear the iThings maker of wrongdoing--and tossed out calls for a $351[M] compensation package for eight million owners of late-2000s iPods. That figure could have been tripled if the iPhone giant had lost its fight.
Apple was accused in a class-action lawsuit of designing its software to remove music and other files from iPods that weren't purchased or ripped via iTunes--but the eight-person jury decided that mechanism was a legit feature.
[...]It was argued that Apple had deliberately set up iTunes to report iPods as damaged if they stored music that, essentially, wasn't sanctioned by Apple: if alien files were found by the software, users were told to restore their devices to factory settings, effectively wiping songs not purchased from or ripped from CD by iTunes.
Apple countered that it was only preventing iPods from being hacked or damaged by third-party data. The company said the protections were implemented to prevent people from listening to pirated music--a claim the jury upheld.
Related:
Apple Deleted Rivals' Songs from Users' iPods - Class-Action Suit
Apple's Intentional iPod Lock-in Efforts - Engineer Testifies in Court
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 14 2014, @08:36PM
Don't buy apple shit, they're abusive wankers.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Sunday December 14 2014, @09:25PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by present_arms on Sunday December 14 2014, @09:43PM
At least you can bung a shed load of songs on to a micro SD card and use that on an Andrioid device, and at least Google won't remove tracks just because you didn't buy it from them or lock them to your device for the ones you PAID for, Apple are cunts, and so is Google but for different reasons.
http://trinity.mypclinuxos.com/
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday December 15 2014, @01:07AM
..and at least Google won't remove tracks just because you didn't buy it from them or lock them to your device for the ones you PAID for...
Ah sound bites. You should have read a little further.
Apple argues – and Schultz agreed in court Friday – that it released many improvements to iTunes, and not isolated changes to stifle competition. Apple says the security measures that Schultz worked on were designed to protect its systems and users’ experience, which would have been compromised by other players and file formats.
This is back when everybody thought they needed DRM to sell music and Real decided they wanted to fiddle around with their format to make it look like Apple's. You can argue with that if you like, but at the end of the day the iPods of that era were not filled up solely with iTunes purchased music. That's probably why this is a court case is searching for a plaintiff.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 15 2014, @04:13AM
These posts before mine illustrate precisely why so many people pirate.
Who wants to deal with and be forced to comply with every Tom, Dick, and Harry's business model? We just want something that works.
If the "street stuff" works, and the stuff sold through a cash register has problems, then I will try to get whichever one that works. I am not buying stuff just to make a merchant happy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 15 2014, @10:02AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 15 2014, @12:40PM
Try actually reading the linked article...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 15 2014, @06:24PM
(Score: 2) by mojo chan on Tuesday December 16 2014, @01:20PM
In what world is restricting the user to a single, and arguably rather expensive, vendor for music downloads protecting their "experience"? If it plays it plays and they have choice, if not they go blame Real for selling them something that doesn't work.
It's always the same excuse. We fucked you for your own good. DRM makes your life better but restricting you.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
(Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday December 16 2014, @03:56PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 1) by Anal Pumpernickel on Sunday December 14 2014, @11:06PM
How about not using either?
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday December 15 2014, @01:24AM
I'm already with you on that, but it does pay to be objective about who you're doing business with. Acting like Apple is the only asshole on the block is just begging to be taken advantage of by a companies like Google.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Sunday December 14 2014, @10:59PM
“Apple was locking the majority of music downloads to its devices".
I'm shocked! Shocked and dismayed! This engineer is quite obviously lying because he hates America and its beneficent rulers, the big corporations.
He should be charged with treason and summarily executed, along with his family, friends and anyone else who read the falsehood-ridden, treasonous and inflammatory "paper" to maintain our wonderful, free, consumer society.
We should probably round up a bunch of other people who are a pain in the ass to our magical corporate overlords as well. Waste not, want not.
Consumers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but last year's iPhone!
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 15 2014, @05:01AM
Consumers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but last year's iPhone!
Actually it's next year's iPhone we need to lose. If we don't buy into their products and abusive ecosystems, they lose their power over us.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday December 15 2014, @05:51AM
Actually it's next year's iPhone we need to lose. If we don't buy into their products and abusive ecosystems, they lose their power over us.
Yes, it's people like you who should be put up against the wall and shot. You're a terrorist and an anarchist. You must love our corporate overlords as if they were your own children.
If they want your house, you give it to them. If they want your wife, you better give her to them. They're much better than you anyway. Get with the program, bud or your life will be forfeit.
(c) 2014 American Chamber of Commerce
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 15 2014, @05:50AM
"People are aware that Windows has bad security but they are underestimating the problem because they are thinking about third parties. What about security against Microsoft? Every non-free program is a 'just trust me program'. 'Trust me, we're a big corporation. Big corporations would never mistreat anybody, would we?' Of course they would! They do all the time, that's what they are known for. So basically you mustn't trust a non free programme."
"There are three kinds: those that spy on the user, those that restrict the user, and back doors. Windows has all three. Microsoft can install software changes without asking permission. Flash Player has malicious features, as do most mobile phones."
"Digital handcuffs are the most common malicious features. They restrict what you can do with the data in your own computer. Apple certainly has the digital handcuffs that are the tightest in history. The i-things, well, people found two spy features and Apple says it removed them and there might be more""
Richard Stallman: 'Apple has tightest digital handcuffs in history'
www.newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2012/12/05/richard-stallman-interview/
(Score: 2) by Jerry Smith on Monday December 15 2014, @07:59PM
The mp3-player market was satiated yet Apple managed to gather an over 50% market share in no-time. I think that irked the competitors more than the drm-ed music.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.